
GopyiightN 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Land of the Flatheads 



a sketch of the 
Flathead Reservation, Montana 

ITS PAST AND PRESENT; 
ITS HOPES AND POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE 



la 
W. H. SMEAD 

For Nearly Seven Years United States Indian Agent 
in Charge of the Flathead Indian Reservation 



COPYRIGHT, 1905, By W. H. SMEAD 



PrPSH of 

THE DAII^Y MISSOULIAN 
Mipsoula, Montana 



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MONTANA. 




PREFACE 



F ANY apology seems necessary for the publication of this work, I 

Iwill say in extenuation that the recent legislation which passed 
Congress and was approved by the President providing for the 
opening of the Flathead Reservation in Montana, will throw open 
to settlement one of the largest tracts of land still remaining un- 
occupied in the United States. A territory in extent exceeding 
in area double that of the state of Rhode Island and greater by 
200,000 acres than the state of Delaware. With such a vast do- 
main soon to be occupied by the thrifty "empire builders," it seems that 
there is a demand for reliable information concerning this magnificent and 
heretofore almost unknown country. 

My intimate knowledge obtained by an official residence of nearly 
seven years upon the reservation and among its people while acting as 
United States Indian Agent, the exceptional opportunity such position gave 
me in obtaining the most accurate and trustworthy information concerning 
the people and their country, its resources, and possibilities, the climatic 
conditions, the soil and its producing capacity, its timber lands and moun- 
tain ranges with their possibilities for great mills and rich mines, seems to 
warrant my presentation of this work for the information of those who may 
contemplate obtaining a home or a business location in Montana upon the 
beautiful and fertile land of the Flatheads. 

I made Montana my home early in life and feel with my long residence 
in the state and large acquaintance with men and affairs to be competent 
to state in concise and clear form the conditions which exist here, and it 
shall be my aim to truthfully portray such conditions and what in my opin- 
ion are some of the possibilities of the future. 

It has been my purpose so far as possible to' represent the conditions, 
industries and achievements of each section treated, with illustrations. 
"Seeing is believing," and I have therefore spared no expense in securing 
plates for this publication, made from photographs taken from many inter- 
esting and instructive subjects. These I hope will be of much service to 
the reader in arriving at a clearer understanding of the subject than he 
would otherwise be able to get from a perusal of these pages. 

The primary intent of thi? work as above indicated is to furnish infor- 
mation regarding the Flathead Reservation in view of its early opening. It 
however seems, in order that persons unacquainted with Montana may 
have as complete an understanding as possible, that a chapter treating of 
Ihe state at large should be added. 

In this chapter I have attempted to treat Montana as a whole in so far 
as it may have any bearing upon the subject proper of this volume. I have 
aimed to show the rapid and very substantial land almost marvelous attain- 
ments tlh'at have been witnessed throughout the state as a whole in the 



4 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

brief period of forty years since the reclaiming of Montana began, without 
g'oing into tiresome detail of the particular opportunities or developments 
of each particular section. Nature itself has arranged for the ultimate and 
complete purposes of the eastern a's well as the western portion of our 
grand empire. For the eastern portion she has arranged the vast plains 
where the countless thousands of cattle, horses and sheep may herd, where 
the grains and grasses shall grow in abundance, and where all the necessi- 
ties of life may be provided in plenty. For the western part she has scat- 
tered with a lavisih hand, mountains filled with precious metals, productive 
valleys, plains with their nutritious grasses for the ranchmien's herd, for- 
ests to supply material for the upbuilding of the state, rivers and lakes to 
furnish the necessary water and power to irrigate the farms and turn the 
wheels of mill and factory, and a climate so moderate, so healthful and con- 
genial to warrant the fullest development of all the natural advantages 
which are destined to make Western Montana so great and wealthy, afford- 
ing abundant opportunities alike to the bread winner and the capitalist. 

As the Flathead Reservation is a great undeveloped country, lying 
partly in Flathead and partly in Missoula counties, with similar climatic 
and soil conditions, and being itself so little developed on account of its 
Indian occupancy, it seems a further necessity that a full and complete 
chapter should be added on Western Montana, embracing more particularly 
the three northwestern counties of the state — Flathead, Missoula and Ra- 
valli. From the developed resources of these three counties lying con- 
tiguous, where practically all of nature's conditions are similar, unless, in- 
deed, they be more favorable to the reservation, we can argue from analogy 
with all confidence that, when developed, the country which will soon be 
thrown open to settlement will equal or exceed the favored sections 
adjoining. 

Since the manuscript for this work was prepared, the legislature, in 
session at Helena, has segregated from Missoula county the Northwestern 
part and formed the new county of Sanders. This new county will embrace 
that part of the Flathead reservation lying south of Flathead county and 
west of the Pend d'Oreille river, also that part south of the Pend d'Oreille 
from its junction with the Jocko. The law providing for this new county 
will become effective March 1st, 1906, and the county seat will be at Thomp- 
son for two years from that date, its permanent location to be determined 
by vote at the election preceding. 

W. H. SMEAD. 
Missoula, Montana, February 15th, 1905. 



MONTANA 



^ 



ARLY in April, 1805, Lewis and Clarice, with their faithful band of 
followers, passed, while following the course of the Missouri 
river, what is now the line between the states of North Dakota 
and Montana. They are the first wihite men of which there ap- 
pears to be any authentic record to set foot within the borders 
of this great state. 

It is possible and even probable that other white men may 
have, in their wanderings into the wilderness, preceded Lewis 
and Clarke. It has been claimed that Verendrye, a French explorer, visited 
Montana and the "Shiny Mountains" (so-called on account of the glittering 
snow-covered peaks) as early as the year 1743. Of this, however, there is 
some doubt. It seems probable, nevertheless, that some hardy French- 
Canadian trappers or voyagers may, after passing up the St. Lawrence 
and over the Great Lakes and on to the west, have reached what is now 
Montana during the early part of the eighteenth century. However this 
may be, it was not until after the United States acquired from Napoleon 
in 1803 that great unknown region west of the Mississippi known as Louisi- 
ana, that any organized attempt was made for the exploration of that vast 
empire of which Eastern Montana is now a part. 

The western limits of Louisiana were clouded and uncertain. Its ex- 
tent westward! and northward was unknown. That what is now Eastern 
Montana, was a part, is certain, but that territory lying west of the main 
range seems to have been a part of that great Pacific Northwest "where 
rolls the Oregon." Oregon, but for the exploration of Lewis and Clarke and 
the untiring efforts of that brave and undaunted Whitman, in securing the 
immigration of settlers from the Eastern states, would have passed to the 
possession of the British or embroiled the two countries in a bloody war. 
Lewis and Clarke are, therefore, credited with the first exploration of 
Montana and certain it is that they are the first to give an authentic ac- 
count of this great country. 

For more than fifty years thereafter few white men, »ave trappers and 
Indian traders, came to iMontana. It was only after gold had been discov- 
ered in 18G2 that any considerable number of persons came to the then wild 
and unknown country. 

Scarcely forty years ago was Montana organized as a territory and from 
that date, May 26th, 1864, the claiming and settlement of the country began. 
Thus in this short lapse of years, Montana has merged from an unknown 
wilderness, with great rivers, primeval forests, impassable mountains and 
wild beasts', a wilderness possessed by the savage and merciless Indian, 
until today it stands among the first of the sisterhood of states, in material 
prosperity, and second to only one in per capita wealth. 



MONTANA 7 

"Rendered habitable and secure through the sacrifices of the pioneers, 
her mountains stored with countless treasures by the Omnipotent; forests 
streams, and plain vying with each other in their willingness to yield their 
wealth to labor, blessed with a matchless Northern climate and embracing 
in its vast expanse of territory a bewildering variety of opportunities for 
successful enterprise, Montana stands today unmatched in rapid develop- 
ment, preeminent in golden promise, and unparalleled in inducements that 
she is able to offer to those with the nerve, brains and capital necessary to 
success. The foundations nave been laid broad and deep; the superstruc- 
ture now being raised is massive and substantial, and future years will wit- 
ness the completion and adornment of the noble work made glorious and 
lasting by the efforts of a prosperous and contented people, enjoying the 




CAPITOI, BUII.D1NG, HEI^ENA, MONTANA 



fruits of their toils amid the countless blessings of this great common- 
wealth." 

The area of Montana is 146,000 square miles. It is the third largest 
state in the Union; Texas being first, California second, and Montana third. 
It is larger than the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, 
Delaware and Rhode Island combined and its possibilities equally as varied 
and great. 

It contains a total of 91,000,000 acres, 26,000,000 of which is classified 
mountain, 30,000,000 farming, and 38,000,000 grazing lands. There are with- 



MONTANA 



9 



in the state twenty-five lakes of considerable size, some of which are navi- 
gable for large steamers, and all noted for their beauty, and whose waters 
are filled with the various varieties of trout. There are 80 large rivers and 
some 350 small streamis. These also are well stocked with fish. 

Three great transcontinental railroads with numerous branches place 
the state in easy connection with the commercial world and connect every 
important town and county. The Northern Pacific railway crosses the 
state from east to west and the Great Northern parallels it across the north- 
ern portion, and the Oregon Short Line extends to the south from Butte to 
Pocatella, Ogden and Salt Lake, connecting with the main line at Poicatello, 
The Union Pacific at Ogden and the Rio Grande at Salt Lake. The Burling- 




PIONEER DAYvS 



ton isystem has completed its new line into the state as far as Billings where 
it connects with the Northern Pacific. 

The principal cities of the state are Butte, with a population of 75,000, 
Great Falls with 14,000, Helena with 12,000, Anaconda 10,000, Missoula 9000, 
Billings 6000, Bozeman 5000, Kalispell 5000, Livingston 4000, Havre 2500, 
Dillon 2000, Miles City 2000, the total population being nearly 300,000. 

The Northern Pacific railway has 868 miles of main line within the 
state limits, a distance nearly as great as that from Chicago to New York. 
Truly Montana is a country of "magnificent distances" and within its con- 
fines are contained the undeveloped riches of a kingdom. 

Geographically the state is divided by the Rocky miountains which tra- 
verse it in a northwesternly and southeasternly direction into what is local- 
ly known as "Eastern" and "Western" Montana. Approximately four-fifths 



MONTANA 



11 



of its vast extent lie to the East of the main range and one-fifth to^ the 
West. The drainage of the Eastern part being to the East and South and 
finally into the Gulf, whereas the drainage of that part West of the moun- 
tains is through Clark's/ Fork of the Columbia to the Pacific. 

There is a marked difference in the climatic conditions of the state. 
This is caused largely by difference in elevation, and mountain influences. 
In general the climate is mdld and equitable. East of the mountains there 
are occasionally cold storms during the winter season, but they are usually 
of short duration, and while tne thermometer will sometimes reach a low 
mark, the atmosphere is so dry that one suffers little with the temperature 
even 15 or 20 below zero. Again the winters are comparatively short for 
such a northern latitude. There is little snow save in the mountains. 




KARI,Y DAY FILACER MINING 



Cattle, horses, and sheep winter upon good ranges without other feed than 
the wild grasses which have been cured during the dry fall season, and 
come out of the winter in good condition. West of the mountains the cli- 
mate is much milder. Severe storms are almost unknown. Seldom are there 
over three consecutive days when the thermometer averages below zero. 
At some points winters pass- without the zero mark being reached and local 
ice dealers find it difficult to secure sufficient ice for domestic purposes. 
It can be said of Montana winters in general that they are milder and shorter 
than the winters of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, or Nebraska. 
Plowing is frequently done in February. 

The s^prings are sometimes disagreeable on account of alternate storms 
of snow and rain, but about the 1st of April the skies clear and the bright, 



MONTANA 



13 



warm sun brings all vegetation to life again. The coming of the wild flower 
and the robin proclaims that seed time is near. The glittering peaks of the 
majestic Rockies, towering above the clouds, clothed in their mantles of 
white make sure to the farmer and miner that there will be water for the 




crops and the mines. God'si promise verified that "seed time and harvest 
shall not fail." To live such days with the earth so full of promise; the 
very mountain air filled with ozone, it is life and health to breathe. It 
makes the heart strong to do battle in the conflict of life. 




iSpring gives way to summer. June brings the rains. It is the one 
month of the year when rains fall with regularity. During this month the 
crops are thoroughly watered. Hay and grain with one or two irrigations 
later assiures the harvest. The grass on the ranges, nourished by the rains 
continues to grow and when July comes, earth is covered with a carpet of 




o t 

O : 



MONTANA 



15 



green. The grasses continue to grow during tlie warm days of July and be- 
ginning with August, they commence to cure, as there is seldom rain after 
the first of that month. The grasses so cured are very nutritious and furn- 
ish the winter forage for the countless thousands of horses, cattle, and 
sheep that live upon the ranges during the winter to follow. 

The summers are beautiful. The skies are clear and cloudless. The 
days are warm but seldom hot. Humidity in the atmosphere is almost un- 
known. The evenings and nights are delightful, so cool and bracing. Invig- 
orating restful sleep follows the days laJbor. 



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Summer merges into autumn with scarcely a perceptable change. The 
skies remain clear, the sun still shines warm and bright. Gradually the 
days shorten and become slightly cooler and thus continue until December 
and frequently until January before cold weather comes. E\^en at this 
writing, November 1st, in Western Montana, wild flowers are in bloom and 
some fruit is still on the trees. 



MONTANA 17 

Montana points with pride to her educational institutions. Her Uni- 
versity, Agricultural College, School of Mines, Normal School, and Public 
Schools are the equal of any in the land. The public spirited cicizens have 







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STATE NORMAIy vSCPIOOI^, DII^IvON 



provided ways and means for a sound system of education for all time to 
come. It is one subject upon which all her citizens agree. The last official 
school report shows that there are in the state 812 first class school houses, 



MONTANA 19 

erected at a cost of $7,400,000. The number of pupils enrolled during the 
year was 41,787, not including those attending private and parochial schools. 
The total money paid to instructors amounted to $548,GG2.00 and the total 
amount paid for public school purposes was $1,369,000.00. 

The educational institutions are open to the free use of the youth of 
Montana. No young man or woman need go beyond the borders of the 
state to secure a cliassical, scientific, or mechanical education. 

The churches of the state will be found to be in keeping with her 
schools. The various denominations are well represented and all are pro- 
vided with suitable places of worship. The same generous spirit is found 
providing for churches and church work as is found in the support of the 
school system, the people believing that religious and school work should 
go hand in hand. 




AGRicuvruRAi^ coi,i,ege;, boze;man 



No more convincing proof of the prosperity of the state and the accumu- 
lating wealth of its citizens and their ability to develop the great resources 
may be found than in the returns of the various county assessors. These 
returns place the taxable property of the state for 1903, exclusive of rail- 
roads, at almost $167,000,000.00, showing an increase in five years of over 
$33,000,000.00. Including railroads the assessed valuation of property in the 
state amounts to over $200,000,000.00. 

No state in the Union reflects so clearly what forty years will accom- 
plish as does the state of Montana. We have seen it a wilderness, the home 
of the Indian and wild beast at the time of the advent of the gold seekers in 
the early sixties. Today we find it is a rich commonwealth among the sis- 
terhood of states, standing first in the production of many of those raw ma- 
terials upon which the industrial centers of the east are so dependent. The 
citizens of this great commonwealth review with pride the splendid achieve- 
ments of the past. A vast majority of Montana's leading men and women, 
now active in the enjoyment of the benefits of this great development, com- 
paring life in Montana forty years ago with the life of today, realize fully 
that only a beginning has been made, that up to the present time the life 
of the state has been marked only by a creative growth. 



20 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



So nmich has required attention and so little time has been allowed in 
which to do It that the people of the state have had neither time nor incli- 
nation to advertise its virtues broadcast. Rather, the people have been con- 
tent to await that healthful development which is bound to follow when the 
foundation is solid and durable. 




ON THE RANGE 

With the preliminary steps in the building of an immense common- 
wealth taken; with its scores of diversified resources reasonably estab- 
lished; with its valleys settled, even though sparsely; with its institutions 




GRAIN READY FOR SHIPMENT 

of learning placed on high standards, with its charity institutions of every 
kind erected and thoroughly operating, with its cosmopolitan people thor- 
oughly assimilated; with its stable government in state, counties and cities, 
with all creative work performed and with its state treasury in a healthy 



MONTANA 



21 



and growing condition, Montana now stands at the point where she invites 
the earnest consideration of every person who contemplates or desires to 
malve a change for the betterment of his financial condition, or to seek a 
more healthy climate. Montana extends to those who wish to come and as- 
sist the great work of development, a most hearty welcome. There are ad- 
vantages for all who are willing to put their shoulder to the wheel. 

One has to come and live for a few months in Montana before he is able 
to appreciate the advantages presented by its diversified topography and 
conditions. 

The stranger is prone to look upon its rugged though beautiful moun- 
tains as barren waste; upon the deeply timbered canyons as forbidding; 




GRAIN EI.KVATOR 



upon its foothills as valueless; upon its acres of sage brush in the valley yet 
unreclaimed by the farmer, as waste and worthless lands; upon the busy 
little mountain streams which go jumping over their rock beds as pict- 
uresque perhapis, but valueless, and even upon the bustling little cities of 
1000 or 5000 souls as so commonplace judged by eastern standards, that op- 
portunity will prove a long time coming. As a year or two roll on his 
opinions will change. He has had an opportunity to climb those mountains 
and perhaps his foot in one of his journeys has uncovered a piece of rock 
from which glistens native gold, silver, or copper. He then begins to 
realize that the entire stretch of Rocky Mountains and branching ranges is 
a storehouse of rich minerals, that its great forests of pine, tamarack, fir, 
spruce, and cedar will prove an unfailing timber supply for many genera- 
tions to come. 



MONTANA 



23 



The stranger may have had occasion to travel through one of the 
hundreds of valleys of the state and discover some new truths, possibly 
against his will. He will have found, if he is sufficiently interested, that 
the sage brush disappears beneath the plow, that the soil is of a rich, allu- 
vial loaim, washed down from the mountains by centuries of rainfall before 
the advent of the white man; that all manner of vegetation thrives to a high 




SAGE BRUSH 



AFTER CULTIVAXrON 



degree; that the once insignificant mountain stream can be harnessed and 
made to force the growing plant life to the highest degree of development; 
that floods do not occur, no pestilential visitations are experienced and crop 
failure is absolutely unknown; that an acre of 
such soil yields, by the use of water, two and 
three fold more than the parched and over- 
worked prairie lands of the corn belt; that the 
products of the vine, the plant and the tree 
grow larger, weigh more, are preserved long- 
er, command a better price and find a more 
ready market than elsewhere; he will have 
found that the forbidding foot hills grow grasses 
so nutritious that they produce more beef or 
mutton at a far more nominal cost than any 
food grown in his native state. During his resi- 
dence in what at first appeared to be a country 
village of two, three or five thousand people, he 
will find that it is the most live, pulsating com- 
munity of a cosmopolitan people that ones im- 
agination could draw together. Instead of do- 
ing business with a rural merchant he will 
discover that he is dealing with an up to date 




FLATHEAD APPLES 



24 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

city merchant of the east, who has come into the west to help develop and 
grow old with it. Instead of doing buslneisis on a small basis and in a small 
way, he will be doing business with merchants who are wholesalers as well 
as retailers and handle their goods by car and trainloads, and over a field 
that perhaps extends hundreds of miles in each direction. 

He will find that there are dozens of such cities in the state, some exist- 
ing by virtue of a different resource in its particular field. He will find that 
the world's greatest mining camp, with its 75,000 souls, exists almo'St entire- 
ly because of the richest mountain of copper ore the world has yet uncov- 
ered; another city he will And exists by virtue of the immense smelting 
plants erected to reduce the ores from certain mines of this mining camp 




AN IRRIGATION CANAI^ 

in question; he will find another and still another city existing by like virtue 
as this first smelting city; he will find cities largely dependent upon the tim- 
ber operations essential to the production of lumber with which to timber 
and brace the countless hundreds of shafts and drifts in this great mining- 
camp; he will find other cities dependent upon the coal mines, whose pro- 
ducts are essential to the operation of the mines or reduction plants; other 
cities he will find which owe their existence to the immense sheep, wool, or 
cattle industries conducted upon the lands that lie adjacent to them; or to 
the highly cultivated valleys, brought to an intense productive stage and 
shipping their fruit, their grains and their vegetables to those sections of 
the immense state which depend upon resources other than agriculture for 
their existence; he will find that some cities have a diversity of resources 
as the basis of their prosperity. 



MONTANA 



25 



This stranger will 
find that these cities 
are electric lighted, 
have their water mains 
and their sewage sys- 
tems; he will find elec- 
tric caris and rural mail 
deliveries; theaters and 
city parks; elegant 
school structures and 
inviting church homes, free public libraries and higher institutions of learn- 
ing, all the various state institutions of education and corrective or eleemosy- 
nary homes; splendid homeis with all that is modern in improvements; well 
kept streets with city parking; complete systems of telegraph, telephone, 
and railroads connecting the most isolated or remote cities with the busier 




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centers of trade and commerce. He will find an energetic people, nearly all 
of whom come "from somewhere else," and who have loaned their best ideas 
of the best eastern standards to the upbuilding of their newly adopted com- 
monwealth. He will have found the little village advanced almost in a 

night to a city, 
without the tortu- 
ous process of 
slow growth. He 
will find good 
moral atmosphere 
and a spirit ever 
striving for the 
best. 




26 



LAND OF THE FLATHEAD'S 



Then does the stranger speedily lay aside his once pessimistic opinions 
and grow steadily more optimistic and enthusiastic. He realizes that not a 
square inch of Montana's expansive acres was put there in vain. He sees 
a new hope in the mountains as he realizes that what already has been done 
in uncovering their rockbound treasures, is but a scratching of the surface 
compared to what the coming years will reveal, when a great mining belt, 
co-extensive with the great mountain ranges stretching from border to border 
of the state will have been developed and dotted with mining camps; he sees 
a new hope in the mountain streams, when every drop of water will be uti- 
lized in the reclamation of the sage brush lands; he draws a new picture of 




HORTICrivTURE 



the hundreds of valleys of the state, watered by the flow of twenty-five lakes, 
eighty large rivers and 382 small streams, yielding valuable crops of grains, 
fruits and vegetables and in a land where crops never fail; he sees a new 
hope in the great timber belts which will yield the finished lumber for the 
thousands of new homes which will be erected in the valleys and the cities; 
he sees a new hope in those great stretches of foot hills and bench lands, 
susceptible as they are to varied crops when reclaimed, or to grazing pur- 
poses. Then the one time stranger, now educated to the significance of 
Montana's varied possibilities marvels at the prodigality of God in his lavish 
distribution of resources, realizing that not an inch of ground has been wast- 
ed, but that everything that is here has been put here for the material 
benefit of man. 



WESTERN MONTANA 



e^ 



ATURB was in a kind and very thoughtful mind when she created 

N Western Montana. She reserved for it much that was beautiful 

in her generoisity, and in her thoughtfulnessi so aTranged all that 
it should be capable of the highest development by man. She 
gave to it an abundant supply of pure water; a rich and produc- 
tive soil; scattered through its area beautiful rivers, lakes and 
streams; interspersed among its grand and lofty mountains, 
beautiful and magnificent valleys; clothed its rolling hills and 
lovely canyons with valuable forests and cairpeted them with nutritious 
grasses; stored it& rockribbed mountains with rare and precious metals; 
blessed it with a mild and genial climate and made it the garden of 
Montana. 

Geographically Western Montana comprises the counties of Silver Bow, 
Deer Lodge, Powell, Granite, Missoula, Ravalli, and Flathead. Generally 
speaking however, the term Western, Montana applies more directly to the 
three last named counties' — ^Missoula, Ravalli, and Flathead, and as it is 
with these three counties that we have to deal, the term will be used as 
applying to them only. 

The total area of these three counties amounts tO' 17,575 square miles, 
with a population of 35,000. 

The sections of Western Montana that are likely to prove of greatest 
interest to the home seeker and investor alike will be found in the great 
agricultural districts. These districts are known as the Missoula, the Bitter 
Root, the Plains, the Blackfoot, and the Flathead countries, and in addition, 
the great tract soon to be opened — the Flathead Reservation. They have 
been endowed by nature alike with a rich and fertile soil; a salubrious cli- 
mate; beautiful forests; mountains rich in various minerals and oils. 

In the Missoula country, throughout its length and breadth are found 
numerous valleys. The largest of these is the Missoula. Next in the order 
named are the Blackfoot, Plains and Paradise. 

The city of Missoula is the metropolis of Western Montana. Its popu- 
lation is about 9000. It is ideally located, and solidly built. It has its dis- 
tinct business district and its numeirous residence sectionis. The city is 
located at the very mouth of the Hell Gate canyon through which flows' the 
Misisoula river and through which passes also the Northern Pacific railway 
from the east. The site of the city occupies both sides of the river, the two 
portions being connected by an imposing bridge, nearly a quarter of a mile 
in length. Both residence and businosis structures as well as all public 
edifices are modern in every detail and am ornament to any community. 
The city has grown with immense strides within the past three or four 



WESTERN MONTANA 



29 



years, the south side especially having been completely transformed by the 
S'COiresi of new homes erected within that time. In the matter of growth, 
the succeeding few years are expected to work even greater changes and it 
is in no way a flight of fancy to predict that Missoula will have doubled in 



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BLSINESS SECTION, MISSOULA 



population in the next five years. The coming season will witness the erec- 
tion of a score of business blocks, the plans for which are at present in the 
hands of architects, while the new homes already planned promise the 




RESIDENCE SECTION, MISSOULA 



greatest year of building activity yet enjoyed by this city. Missoula natur- 
ally is the central market of an immense area. The farmer here either sells 
his produce to local dealers or ships directly to the other markets of the state. 
Likewise with the orchardist and the live stock breeder. All the larger 



30 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



lumber manufacturing interests in Missoula and Ravalli counties have local 
yards in the city. 

Railroads radiate from Missoula in four directions, and the headquarters 
for these various branches are located here — the Bitter Root branch which 




IN WESTERN MONTANA 

traverses the Bitter Root valley to Darby, a short distance south of Hamil- 
ton in Ravalli county; the Coeur d'Alene branch which follows the course 
of the Missoula valley to the Idaho line and whose terminal is Wallace, the 
metropolis of the Idaho section of the Coeur d'Alene mining diistrict; and 
the main line divisions, east and west, of the Northern Pacific. 



WESTEIRN .MONTANA 



31 



The piay roll of railroad, train, and sihop men living in Missoula alone is 
over $90,000.00 per month, which gives some idea of the importance of the 
city as a railroad center. There are between two and three hundred men 
employed in the car shop®. 

Upon the south side of the city, midst beautiful and picturesque sur- 
roundings, is located the University of Montana. Though young among the 
educationail institutlonsi of the West it has steadily grown since its organi- 
zation until at the present it has an enrollment of 350. Governed by a wise 
mianagemient, suppilied with a splendid faculty, it has won a leading position 
among the educationail institutions of the country. Endowed by the Govern- 
ment with a princely land grant, providing a permanent income, it has a 
moist brilliant future. Here, in buildings handsomely furnished and well 
equipped, is offered to the student of today the opportunity of securing an 
advanced ediucation, in the Classical, Scientific, Technical or Normal School 
Profeissional course. The splendid library and museum are becoming lead- 




A NEW HOME 



ing features. During the summer vacation a Biological station is main- 
tained on Flathead lake where the many suibjects of research may be stud- 
ied in their natural state. 

The sichoois of the city have attained a standard of marked excellence. 
There are about 1700 pnpils enrolled in the various wards and high school. 
All grades are uniform, not only in the cities but throughout the state. The 
district or county school's likewise have been made to conform with the 
same general scheme of grading, so that from the lowest grade to the high- 
est, and on into the various state colleges the pupil finds conditions uniform 
in any school in which he may be enrolled. 

It lis not too much, but rather the fact, to state that eastern standards 
have been met, if indeed not excelled in many directions by the Western 
Montana schools. The teachers almost without exception are graduates 
from eastern universities, normal schools oir the sitate normal. With no iron 
clad traditions to undo, but rather confronted with the upbuilding of new 



' VI 


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WESTERN MONTANA 33 

syistems, only the best has been adopted and the result is reflected in a 
quickened school spirit and scholarly atmosphere difficult to excel. 

The Garden City Busineisis college, and Sacred Heart Academy are im- 
portant adjuncits in making Missoula the educational center of the state. 



'/' -niA ''lIlt»^-*^-:L5«.]^%*'''*r^ 




CARNEGIK PUBLIC I.IBKAKY, MISSOULA 

Athletics of all kinds are given the fullest encouragement. The city 
schools, and University, each have one or more foot and base ball teams, 
which contend with each other and the various State teams. The University 
teams are members of the North Western Inter-Collegiate League and their 
annual meets and games create widespread interest. 




NEW HIGH SCHOOL, MISSOULA 



Religious life also enjoys an encouragingly healthful condition, in both 
city and country. All denominatdons are represented, each having strong 
and growing memberships and in nearly all cases occupying handsome church 



34 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 




GARDEN CITY COMMERCIAL COLLEGE, MISSOULA 



i 


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SACRED HEART ACADEMY, MISSOULA 



WESTERN MONTANA 



35 



homes. It is needless to say that all have pastors who are permanently 
located and are excellent types of the scholarly minister. The numerous 
young people's unions and leagues are organized in practically every denomi- 
nation and are doing splendid work among the younger members of the 
community. The moral atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the presence of 
an enthusiastic and growing Y. M. C. A. wihich occupies commodious quar- 
ters, including reception rooms, gymnasium, bath, etc. 

P'our miles south of the city on the banks of the beautiful Bitter Root 




A CITY HOME, MISSOULA 



river is located Fort Missoula, an ideal post. It has its own land and timber 
reserve amounting to 1200 acres. It is now garrisoned by three companies 
of infantry, but it is believed that at no distant date it will be made a regi- 
mental post. 

Social life ha,s reached a high state of healthful development throughout 
the entire community. The Missoula club furnishes a club home for the 
merchants and professional men of the city. It occupies elaborate quarters 
in one of the principal business blocks. The Woman's club, embracing five 



S6 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

subsiderary departments, is' also in a flourishing condition, and the literary, 
domestic science and art devotee finds splendid opportunity for congenial 
and helpful aissociation. 

The entire third floor of the new Northern Pacific depot is given over 
to the club rooms of the railroad employes, which are handsomely finished 




NORTHERN PACIFIC DEPOT. MISSOULA 

and furnished to meet the requirements of the men of the various depart- 
ments. Among the conveniences is an ideal bathing pool. 

In addition practically every lodge or order of national scope has a 
charter in the city and in no case is anything but a growing and flourishing 




OFFICERS ROW, FORT MISSOULA 



condition reported. Social functions growing out of these orders are num- 
erous and preserve that sociability and hospitality for which the West 
is noted. 

Missoula enjoys the best in things theatrical, the local opera house se- 
curing the cream of the companies which pass through the state on their 



WESTERN MONTANA 



37 



tours across the continent. Missoula is always billed by all the leading 
actors and it enjoys the reputation of being a good "'show town." 

There are also a number of family theaters giving daily performances 
at popular prices. 




SOURCE OF CITY WATER. MISSOULA 

Misscula has three banks with a capital and surplus aggregating $450,- 
000.00, and deposits of nearly a million and three quarters. They are man- 
aged by conservative and reliable men. They are prosperous and are a 
strong factor in the development of the resources of this section. All of 
them have savings departments for the convenience of the public. 




RESERVOIR, 



FEET ABOVE CITY OF MISSOUL.\ 



The city's water supply for domestic use analyzes a fraction over 98 
per cent pure, a showing which cannot be duplicated in a half dozen cities 
in the United States. The water is secured from the lakes in the Rattle- 
snake mountains, far above human habitation and consequently free from 



38 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



every form of contamination. It is flumed for several miles to the city 
mains. TTie present source is sufficient to supply the increasing demands 
of the city for several years to come. Practically every home in the city is 
connected with the water miains, as well as with the sewer system. 

Electric power with which to isupply the city is generated at Bonner, 
six miles distant, and conducted to a sub-station in Missoula over a pole 
line. Here it is distributed to the various residence, street, and power cir- 
cuits. The city and all business blocks are well lighted and many of the 
homes are wired for this modern convenience. 

The Western Union, and Postal telegraph companies have offices here. 
The telephone system has grown to be a common household adjunct, being 
installed almost as extensively in private residences as in business houses. 







^\^;yii.ir^"^ 



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SlK 4^ ftSHi^R^f Mil 
pli iig;i:M»{iw55p!8'«H«ijge 



A MISSOULA HOME 



Both business blocks and homes that have been constructed in recent 
years reflect the latest ideas in architecture. Most of the former are three 
or four stories high and built of stone or brick with pressed brick exterior. 
The latter are of brick or wood. Native lumber is largely used for inter- 
iors as it makes a beautiful finish. 

Missoula has a daily paper which publishes a twenty-hour telegraphic 
report from the leased wire of the Associated Press which is handled under 
the paper's own roof. This is the same report furnished the big Western 
dailies, the local paper being on the same circuit. 

Missoula is not overshadowed by the competition of larger cities, Helena 
and Butte, the nearest large cities to the east, being 125 miles distant, while 
Spokane lies westward two hundred and fifty miles. 



WESTERN MONTANA 



39 



The City and County of Missoula offer many opportunities to men of 
moderate means as well as to the capitalist. At the present time a most 
inviting field may be found in the establishment of creameries. A brief re- 




FARM SCENE 



view of the figures given in this volume on the enormous importation of 
butter and cheese into this state will be sufficient proof of the market pos- 
sibilities. The most active cooperation of the farmers and citizens awaits 




HORTICULTURE 



the investor in this direction. Power for enterprises of this character or 
large factories can usually be obtained from the mountain streams. The 
city electric power company also furnishes power at reasonable rates. A 



40 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



cold storage plant with a large capacity is badly needed for the storage of 
fruits, butter, poultry, etc. In the opinion of conservative men a vegetable 
canning factory would, with proper management and the necessary capital, 
meet with assured success. There is or easily could be any quantity of the 
raw material grown to supply a factory, while now, as elsewhere pointed 
out, hundreds of car loads of canned goods are annually brought into this 
state to supply the demands of trade which should be supplied by a home 
cannery. 

There is only one paper mill in the state of Montana notwithstanding 
there is a most splendid supply of cheap timber at hand. There is not a 
single packing establishment in the state, still we import into Montana each 




DAM AND GKXK RATING 



.ANT, BONNER 



year hams, bacon, and cured meats to the value of nearly one and a quarter 
million dollars. 

Exhaustive experiments at the experiment station and by private in- 
dividuals have proven conclusively that Montana soil is peculiarly adapted 
to the production of sugar beets, the percentage of sugar being high and 
yield large. 

The world's production of sugar in 1902 amounted in round numbers to 
8,500,000 long tons, of which about 5,800,000 tons, approximately GO per cent, 
were beet sugar. 

The consumption of sugar in the United States amounts to approximate- 
ly 2,250,000 long tons, about 26 per cent of the world's entire production. 
These 2,250,000 long tons of 2,240 pounds are equal to 2,520,000 tons of 2,000 
pounds each, as figured in all American calculations. 



WESTERN MONTANA 



41 




A CITY ORCHARI 






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PRODUCT OF AX APPLE TREE 



42 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



Assuming that the average product of each beet sugar factory erected in 
the United States is 5,000 tons, it would require 500 such factories to meet 
this home demand. Assuming that the present established beet sugar fac- 
tories and the cane mills of the South now produce 500,000 tons — ^too high an 
estimate — it would still require 400 more factories to provide for our home 
consumption. 

The average annual increase of consumption is G per cent, or 151,000 
tons. To meet this increase alone there would be required to be erected 
each year thirty factories of this capacity, say 500 to 600 tons of beets per 
day. To pay for this sugar now imported we are sending abroad annually 
nearly $125,000,000. 







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THE GENUINK ARTICLE 



The American farmer is today raising wheat yielding an average gross 
return of $10 per acre, which is being sent abroad to pay for sugar which he 
consumes, while the same lands on which the wheat is grown would produce 
the sugar and yield from $G5 to $100 per acre. This is neither economy nor 
oomimon sense. 

At present there are no sugar beet factories in Montana. The field is 
certainly an inviting one and worthy of the closest investigation by the 
capitalist. 

The above are only suggestions of a few of the possibilities — there are 
many others — ^and men with energy and necessary capital will find oppor- 
tunities where success is assured. 

While one may unconsciously form the idea that agriculture and horti- 



WESTERN MONTANA 43 

culture represent the only industries of Western Montana, the reverse is 
really the fact. These two industries have close rivals in mining, lumber- 
ing, and stock raising. These diversified industries comtoined, result in a 
healthy and steady growth and development in all lines. An additional de- 
mand for labor and the products of the soil continues as the country builds, 
and this where the supply is far less than the demand. With the steady 
building up and developing of our country under the conditions which pre- 
vail, there is a wide field of opportunity for the homeseeker, the prospector, 
the breeder, the manufacturer and the capitalist — a field unexcelled within 
the limits of the Union. Not only do large rivers traverse every one of the 
larger valleys, but railways, as well. Towns and cities have sprung up 



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STRAWBKRRIES IN PROFUSION 

along these various lines and fewer years will be required to bring the en- 
tire isection to a full state of development than perhaps in any other portion 
of the state. 

Indeed, these are but a few of the many inviting fields for investment. 
The list might be extended to a much greater length. In the Missoula 
country one finds a wide range of possibilities, agriculturally speaking. 
The stockman, the farmer, the horticulturist, and the gardener will dis- 
cover a most inviting field. The country has long since passed the experi- 
mental stage. It is no longer necessary to sow and plant to learn. Evi- 
dences are found in every direction determining the adaptability of the soil, 
climate, and country to the successful operation of all the branches of agri- 
cultural industry. 

Apples, pears, plums, prunes, cherries, and all of the berries and small 
fruits will be found to be successfully grown here and to exceed in profitable 
yield the best fruit districts in the United States. Peaches are also grown 



44 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



in some favored localities. Nowhere is there a wider field for the develop- 
ment of horticulture than here. While the past few years have witnessed 
a large increase in the acreage of the various kinds of fruits, the industry 
may still be said to be in its infancy. 

It can be said truthfully that nowhere in the United States can more 
favorable conditions be found. Freedom from all the dreaded diseases that 
are usually found in the fruit sections of the eastern and western coast 
points; immunity from the various fungus diseases which are found widely 
disseminated throughout the orchards of the lower altitudes of the east; 
soil and climate conducive to healthy and rapid wood growth; atmosphere 




clean and dry, producing fruit of superior flavor and high color, all com- 
bine to make this section one of the very best for the highest development 
of this industry. The market for the fruit products of the state i;s prac- 
tically unlimited. The wide discrepancy between the present supply and 
the demand leaves no room for the thought of over production. 

Indeed, at the present rate of planting, we cannot hope to more than 
keep pace with the increase in population, let alone fill the great demand 
that is now being satisfied through importation. The importations of fruits 
for one year into Montana were: Apples, 311,127 boxes; pears, 38,251; 
apricots and peaches, 139, 2G8; plums and prunes, 77,-G45; cherries, 19,568; 



WESTERN MONTANA 



45 



quinces, 73G; berries, 28,5G3; or a total of 30,757,850 pounds, valued at 
$2,500,000.00. It would be a waste of time to attempt further proof that a 
practically unlimited market for Montana fruit exists in view of the above 




HARVEST 




reliable figures. They tell the story of what is not produced. The oppor- 
tunity is here for all who care to take advantage. 

Average Yield of Orchards and Prices Realized. 

The average yield per acre of a good orchard, when in full bearing, ac- 
cording to best information obtainable, is as follows: 



46 



LAND OP THE FLATHBADS 



Apples, 450 boxes of 50 pounds each. 
Prunes, 25,000 pounds. 
Pears, 20,000 pounds. 
Peaches, 12,000 pounds. 
Nectarines, 10,000 pounds. 
Cherries, 16,000 quarts. 
Grapes, 18,000 pounds. 
Gooseberries, 4,000 quarts. 
Currants, 3,500 quarts. 
Blackberries, 5,000 quarts. 
Raspberries, 2,500 quarts. 
Strawberries, 5,000 quarts. 




ORCHARD 



Striking an average of prices received during the past four years we 
get the following results: 

Apples, 70c per box, or $315.00 per acre. 

Prunes, li/^c per pound, or $375.00 per acre. 

Pears, 2c per pound, or $400.00 per acre. 

Peaches, 2c per pound, or $240.00 per acre. 

Apricots, 3c per pound, or $360.00 per acre. 

Nectarines, 4c per pound, or $480.00 per acre. 

Cherries, 7i^c per quart, or $1,200.00 per acre. 

Grapes, 2l^c per pound, or $450.00 per acre. 

Blackberries, 6%c per quart, or $312.50 per acre. 

Raspberries, S^Ac per quart, or $206.25 per acre. 

Gooseberries, 6i/4c per quart, or $250.00 per acre. 

Currants, 6i/4c per quart, or $218.70 per acre. 

Strawiberries, 6V2C per quart or $325.00 per acre. 

This statement was prepared by the Secretary of the State Board of 
Horticulture and should be considered as official. 

What hais been said of the possibilities of the production in orcharding 



WESTERN MONTANA 



47 



and market, may be said also of other branches of farming. The yield of 
grasses, cereals, vegetables and all root crops, stands at or near the head 
of the list of all states. In no single instance do we produce any farm crops 
sufficient for our own needs with the possible exception of hay and oats. 
We are forced to send east and west, annually, millions of dollars to supply 
the demand. 

With the opening of the Flathead reservation in the near future, and 
the consequent immense influx of homeseekers to this section, it is abso- 
lutely certain that a large overflow will settle in the adjacent valleys, which 




are large enough and resourceful enough to absorb them all. In this con- 
nection, it should be borne in mind that, however resourceful a country may 
be, one should not come unprepared. Some means are a necessity. Though 
capable of absorbing many people, this section, like any other country, is not 
capable of providing sustenance to every needy person who may be inspired 
with a desire to secure a home on rich, yet cheap, lands. 

In the Bitter Root country lying south of Missoula conditions will be 
found very isimilar to those existing in the Missoula country. This section 
is known as the Bitter Root valley, and is famous throughout the land as the 
pioneer in horticultural pursuits. It is questionable whether there can be 
found in all the west a more congenial spot. The major portion of the 
country is under cultivation. Diversified farming is well established. Dairy- 
ing is receiving considerable attention, several creameries being in operation 
at the present time. In this connection it may be said that the Bitter Root 
offers a splendid field for dairying for the reason that successful dairies and 
creameries have been in operation there for several years, thus educating 
the people to the advantages of this line of husbandry. 



48 



LAND OF THE PLATHEADS 



While all lines of iarming will be found to have attained a high degree 
of efficiency in the valley, perhaps the greatest strides in recent years have 
been made along the lines of fruit growing. Here the visitor will find orch- 
arding developed on a large commercial plan. Many individuals will be 
found operating fruit farms ranging in extent from 10 to 100 acres, while 
some large companies have orchards of five hundred and even a thousand 
acres. 

In the western portion of Missoula county lie the Plains, Paradise, and 
Thompson valleys. This beautiful strip of country, while not so large as 




THRESHING 



many others herein noted, is an ideal farming section. Here we find farxii- 
ing carried on largely without the aid of irrigation. 

The country is especially adapted to the production of all the cereals 
and grasses, as well as all the vegetables and fruits. Ideal conditions are 
met with on every hand for the fullest scope in dairying, and in live stock 
and poultry raising. 

As yet the land known as the Blackfoot country is comparatively un- 
developed. There, however, will be found special opportunities in stock 
raising and dairying. Well watered, containing the most valuable timber, 
possessing large - ' 

grazing areas, 
that section prom- / 
Ises to witness at \ 
no distant date a 
widespread devel- 
opment along the 
lines of dairying 
and stock raising. 
There one may 
find hundreds of 
favorable 1 o c a- 
tions for the dairy 
with grass and 
water in abund- 
a n c e and a 
market close at hand 




STACKING ALFALFA 



WESTERN MONTANA 



49 



The Flathead country (the readeir should not confound the Flathead 
country with the Flathead reservation, the former lying entirely north of 
the reservation) is situated in the northwestern part of northwestern Mon- 
tana. Its total area of agri- 
cultural lands is greater than 
that of any of the sections 
herein described. It is fav- 
ored with a splendid climate. 
The soil is a dark rich loam 
and very productive. There 
are numerous valleys, promi- 
nent among them being the 
Flathead, Smith, Swan, Koot- 
enai, and Tobacco Plains val- 
leys. The entire country is 
traversed east and west by 
the main line of the Great 
Northern railroad. During 
the summer season a steam- 
boat plies from Kalispell over 
the Flathead river and lake 
to various towns and settle- 
ments in that section. 

Farming, stock raising, 
and horticulture are all suc- 
cessfully pursued in this 
beautiful land. Along the 
shores of the Flathead lake, 
special advantages are found 
for the growing of peaches 
and grapes. Throughout the 
entire country spring and 
winter wheat are raised, the 
yields of the former being 
from 20 to 40 bushels per 
acre and of the latter 35 to 
G5 bushels. Oats, rye and 
other grains do well, and all 
the forage crops are produced 
abundantly, the yields per 
acre standing among the 
highest credited to any sec- 
tion in the Union. 

Indeed, like in all other 
parts of Western Montana, 





PUBIJC SCHOOI. BUII.DING, KAIJSPEI.1^ 




BUSINESS CORNER IN KAI^ISPELI. 



WESTERN MONTANA 



51 



crop failures are unknown. Dairying has received considerable attention in 
the various valleys by individual farmers, but as yet, little has been done in 
the way of establishing creameries. 




A KAUSPEI.I. HOME 

Orcharding, from the very opening of the country, has been very largely 
followed. Apples, pears, plums, prunes, cherries, and all varieties of ber- 
ries and small fruits are grown commercially, and in some of the more 
favored localities, grapes and peaches. 

Kalispell is the county .seat of Flathead county and the metropolis of 
the northern portion of Western Montana. 

It is a live, pro- 



population of five 
numerous industries, 
isaw and planing 
creamery. The city 
splendid electric 
sewage, and t e 1 e- 
other conveniences 
to date town. Its 
clasised among the 
All denominations of 
represented. 




CARNKGIE lylBRARY, KALISPELL 



gressive city with a 
thousand. It has 
such as flour mills, 
mills, foundry, and 
is provided with a 
lighting plant, water, 
phone systems and 
necessary to an up 
public schools are 
best in the country, 
churches are well 



52 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



Situated as it is, in the center of a great 
agricultural section at the head of naviga- 
tion of the Flathead river, with a great 
country to the east and west drawing its 
supplies from this jobbing center, with the 
great forests to the north from which logs 
can be floated on the numerous streams 
which traverse the timiber belts to the booms 
at the mills adjacent to the city, Kalispell 
has indeed a bright future. At no distant 
daite a railroad will be built south from Kal- 
ispell across the great and fertile Flathead 
reservation to connect with the Northern 
Pacific railroad at a point a short distance west of Missoula. This, while 
materially asisiisting in the upbuilding and development of the Flathead, will 




FHGH SCHOOI,, KAl^ISPEI.1^ 




MII^Iv, NEAR KAIJvSPEl^I^ 




COUHT HOUSE, KAI^ISPEI.I. 



be even of greater benefit to Kalispell, and 
Missoula from whence the Flathead country 
when settled will draw its supplies. It is cer- 
tain to make both cities great wholesale dis- 
tributing points. With the greater part of the 
northern half of Flathead county a virgin for- 
est, Kalispell will become a great lumber man- 
ufacturing city. The thousands of men neces- 
sary to the logging and sawing of these vast 
tracts of timber will add materially in making 
Kalispell within a few years one of the largest 
and most important cities in the state. 



THE FLATHEAD 



e^ 



N SEPTEMBER 4t]i next, it will have been 100 years isince Lewis 

Oand Clark at the head of their tired, hungTy, and almost destitute, 
yet determined comimand, passed over the divide from the head 
waters and tributaries of the Siailmon river in Idaho to the head 
waters of the Bitter Root river in what is now Montana and was 
then the land of the Flatheads. Liater in the day, in traveling 
on to the north they came upon a camp of Indians. The explor- 
ers were so sun burned, weather beaten, and raigged that they 
were scarcely distinguishable from Indians and the scouts from the Indian 
camp who had first seen them, so reported, believing them to be a war 
party who had been worsted in some encounter with other Indians. The 
Indians were camped in a beautiful glade in what iis now known as Ross' 
Hole. Here th'ey awaited the arrival of the strangers with much anxiety 
and suspicion. However the lack of any hostile movement, and the friendly 
signs and overtures of Lewis and Clark seemed to disarm and quiet their 
fears and apprehenisions and they received them warmly, sihook hands with 
the Captains and their men, spread skins upon the ground for them to be 
seated upon andl placed robes upon their backs. They gave them food and 
smoked with them the pipe of peace. 

The Indians were astonished to learn that their visitorsi were white 
men as they were the first they had ever seen, but the sight of a black man 
among them, Clark's body servant was something beyond their comprehen- 
sion. They believed him painted for war. They had heard of white men 
before through the visits of Indians from the Lower Columbia, where the 
traders occasionally came, but of a black man, never before. They were 
convinced only when it was shown them that the color and the skin were 
inseparable. 

Lewis and Clark named these Indians Ootlashoots but they were in 
reality a band of Flatheads then on their way "across the mountains" on 
their annual ihunting trip. Their home was lower down the valley to the 
north. They were a part of the Selish nation, and together with their near 
neighbors, the Pend d'Oreilles, and Kootenai's, occupied what is now West- 
ern Montana, their hunting grounds and lands extending to the north across 
the International boundary line, and to the westward far down Clark's Fork 
of the Columbia river. 

The name of Flatheads as applied to these Indians was doubtless a 
misnomer. No person seems able to explain why they were so called. 
There appears to be no evidence that they ever practiced the pernicious 
habit of flattening their heads as did some of the Indians on the Lower 
Columbia river. These Indians are of good build and form and their heads 
are of the normal shape. 



54 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



Lewis and Clark speak we'll of them, crediting them with hospitality, 
honorable dealing, truthfulness, and morality. They spent several days 
with them trading and purchasing horses. The Flatheads had great herds. 
In fact, their riches were their horses, and they estimated their wealth by 
the number of head they owned. Their fondnesis for horses and their de- 
sire to oiwn large numbers is one of their present day characteristics. After 
the explorers left on their journey, the Indians continued on their way to 
the buffalo country. 

In their land of broad val- 
leys, surrounded by majestic 
mountains, on whose peaks the 
eternal snows gleamed against 
cloudless skies; with great 
rivers, sparkling streams, and 
crystal lakes, whose waters were 
filled with the finny tribes; with 
greait plains where roamed 
countless thousands of deer, elk, 
and antelope; with dark and 
dense forests — the homes of 
wild and savage beasts; here 
first met the whites and the 
Flathead Indians. This was the 
land of the Flatheads, 

Here in happy careless free- 
dom, untiainted by the vices of 
the white man, free from the re- 
straining hand of civilization 
lived these children of the plains 
and foirests their savage though 
honorable and virtuous lives. 
While not strong in numbers, 
they were brave of heart, daring 
and courageous in conflict. In 
this their own land they re- 
ceived with open arms the little 
band of whites, fed and clothed 
them and sent them on their 
way. Our great Government 
and the hearts of the people 

should alwaysi have a wiarm feeling for the Flathead Indians. They were 
and alwaysi have been the friend of the whites. Had they been hostile to 
Lewis and Clark, it would have been entirely possible and even probable 
that they could have destroyed the entire expedition, the far reaching re- 
sults of which it is hardly possible to eisitimate. 

As our future claim to the great Pacific Northwest was based largely 
upon the exploration of this expedition, it seems entirely- probable that had 




CHARI.OS 

CHIEF OF THE FLATHEADS 



THE FLATHEAD 



55 



the Flatheads been otherwiise tban friendly to Lewis andi Clark at that par- 
ticular and critical time, the map of our country might be very different 
tod'ay. Their friendship for the whites, sealed in the wilds of the Rocky 
mountains has never been broken. Today it is their honorable boast that 
they have never shed the blood of the white man. 

The Flatheads were never a powerful tribe. It is doubtful if at any 




time their number ever exceeded 2000 souls. While they have always been 
friendly toward the whites, they have nevertheless many times met in deadly 
conflict with their mortal enemies, the BLackfeet, and the Crows. These 
encounters were largely the result of disputes over the hunting grounds of 
the tribes. It was the custom for the Flatheads each fall to cross the moun- 




IN CAMP 



tains to the east side along the Missouri river, to hunt buffalo, the latter not 
b^ing found on the west side of the range. The Blackfeet who lived imme- 
diately north of these hunting grounds maintained that they had the sole 
right to hunt there and that the Flatheads were trespassers. The latter 
contended that hunting buffalo on those grounds was a right which their 
forefathers had enjoyed froim time immemorial and that they should not be 



THE FLATHEAD 57 

deprived of that right. The result of the dispute was many bloody en- 
counters, and the Bla.ckfeet being a much strong-er nation, the outcome was- 
usuially averse to the Flatheads. They were however braive and courageous 
and foug-ht against great odds. The Blackfeet, living nearer to the northern 
and eastern trading points, had been more successful in securing fire arms 
and were consequently very destructive to their foes who were armed only 
with bows and arrows. This continuous warfare greatly wasted the streng-th 
and vitality of the Flatheads, the result being that they decreased in num- 
bers. This latter is generally true of all tribes of late years and especially 
since the advent of the white man. However this was the case with the 
Flatheads before the whites came to possess the country. The Crows were 




ON THE FI^ATHEAD 



also a powerful enemy and frequently warred with their western foes. 
Today on the reservation are many hardy old warriors who carry the scars 
of many a hard fought field. They are proud of their achievements, but 
have long since buried the hatchet and are on friendly and visiting 
terms with their old foes, The accounts of these early day wars are of the 
most interesting nature. 

These Indians had early in the thirties become deeply interested in 
learning more of the Catholic religion. Through some wandering Iroquis 
Indians who came among them and were finally adopted into the tribe, they 
learned of the Black Robes. These Iroquis having lived where they were 
visited by a missionary and having become familiar with the forms of wor- 
ship and ceremonies of the Catholic Church, enthused the Flatheads' with 
the idea of securing Black Robes to teach them the way of life and salva- 



58 



LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 



tion. The Flatheads were deeply impressed with the thought and they fin- 
ally determined to send to St. Louis, nearly 3000 miles away, and ask that a 
priesit be sent them. The delegation of four Indians finally reached St. 
Louis, but it was not successful in its mission. Two of the Indians died 



THE MISSION RANGE 

while there and the other two never returned to their native land. Another, 
and still another delegation was sent for the same purpose. Nearly all of 
each delegation met with serious mishap, some were murdered and others 
were never heard of again. Finally however they were successful and in 




FI^ATHEAU GRAZING I^ANDS 



THE FLATHEAD 



59 



the year 1840 a priest, Father P. J. DeSmet, was sent to them. The mater- 
ial and spirituial imfluence of this priest over the Indians was remarkable. 
Nearly all embraced the Catholic religion and have remained to this day 
firm believers in the faith. 

In the year 1855 Governor Isaac I. Stevens met the Indians in council at 
a point about six miile® to the west of where the city of Missoula now stands. 
The purpose of this counicil was to negotiate a treaty with the Flathead and 
other Indians then occupying practically all of what is now Western Mon- 
tana. The tribes represented at this council were the Flatheads^, Upper 
Pend d'O'reilles', and Kootenai Indians, all of whom belonged to a confedera- 
tion. The Pend d'Oreilles occupied at that time a large part of that section 




^msc^a^^ 



-^^fctev- 



.-i^!^^^ 



NEAR THE MISSION 



which was afterward included within the reservation set aside by the treaty 
concluded at this council. 

The Kootenais live further to the north, occupying that country north 
of Flathead lake and south of the International boundary line. The Flat- 
heads lived primcipally within the Bitter Root valley, although some were 
scattered further to the north and west. 

The result of the council was a treaty between the representatives of 
the various tribes and Governor Stevens whereby the Indians ceded prac- 
tically all of what is now Western Montana to the Government of the United 
States with the exception of that country which was reserved for a reserva- 
tion for the tribes and which was named the Jocko or Flathead reservation. 
This treaty is commonly known as the Hell Gate treaty. In addition to this 
it was provided that the President at his discretion might also set aside a 
separate reservation in the Bitter Root valley for the Flathead Indians. 



60 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



Provision was later made for the Flatheads in the Bitter Root valley 
who did not wish to move to the reservation heretofore set aside. Their 
lands were surveyed and allotted to them in severalty. 

The friendliness of these Indians was a material factor in the early 




INDIAN MAIDENS, BUCKSKIN SUITS 



settlement of the Western part of the state. When Chief Joseph of the Nez 
Perces made his famous raid through the Bitter Root valley in 1877, the 
Flatheads were invited to join him. The invitation fell upon deaf ears. 
Chief Charles of the Flatheads refused even to shake hands with Joseph 
and his chiefs, saying- that their hands were covered with blood. He fur- 



THE FLATHEAD 



61 



ther warned them that if a settler in the Bitter Root valley was injured he 
would turn his warriors against them. 

The settlers had no fear of the Flatheads. Their friendship was sure. 
The result was that the peopling of this section was made easy. Within a 
comparatively few years after the great tide of immigration had set in 
toward the hitherto almost unknown West, many settlers had located in the 
Bitter Root valley and the white settlement became strong. The new- 
comers soon coveted the Indian lands and it was not long until there was 
a demand by them for the removal of these friendly people to the reservar 
tion some forty miles to the north. This was later accomplished although 
the Indians reluctantly left their old homes to make new ones with their 
neighbors on the reservation. These Indian lands in the Bitter Root were, 
by an act of Congress, appraised and sold for the benefit of the owners, and 



'-41^; 




AN INDIAN RANCH 



today the whites are the undisputed possessors of the Bitter Root valley, 
the former home of the Flatheads. 

The country set aside by the Hell Gate treaty as a reservation wais well 
selected. The Indians chose well. This great Inland empire of broad 
valleys, large rivers, and lakes, great forests, and) mountains by which it 
is nearly surrounded is, in extent, about forty by sixty miles and con- 
tains nearly 1,500,000 acres. 

In its bread valleys game abounded, supplying both food and clothing 
for its occupants. The streams and lakes were full of fish, the timber on 
mountains and streams furnisihed fuel. On the prairies the grass was 
waist high and furnisihed feed, summer and winter for large herds of ponies, 
the riches of these tribes. Here the Indians have since lived. The Jesuit 
Fathers early established a mission among them and were later joined by 
the Sisters of Charity and Ursuline Nuns. These orders have in addition to 



G2 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 




GOVERNMENT MII.I^ ON FI.ATHEAD RESERVATION 

their religious teaching added large schools and the Indian children have 
been taught the rudiments of an education. In addition the boys have been 
taught how to plov^, seed, and harvest, v^hile the girls have been instructed 
in household duties, sewing, dairying, etc. Results have been slow perhaps. 




STEAMER ON FI.ATHEAD I.AKE 



but today there are scattered over the country many good Indian ranches 
where good crops are harvested and all the necessities of life and many of 
the comforts are to be found. Indians are slow to take up the ways of the 
white man. His vices they soon adopt but his virtues they are slow to 



THE FLATHEAD 63 

accept. This however miay not be surprising, when one reimembers that for 
ages, generation after generation of Indians has grown up, relying upon 
game and fish, berries, and roots for their sustenance, all of which were 
comiparatively easily obtained. It is not to be expected that they should in 
the course of a decade or two adopt the advanced methodis of obtaining a 
livelihood, which it has taken their white brothers centuries to acquire. 
The Indian works fairly well for another, but not so for himself. He needs 




PEND D'OREIIvI^E RIVER. FI.ATHEAD RESERVATION 

the guiding hand of one in authority. Thus it is today that after nearly 
fifty years of occupancy the Flathead Reservation is still comparatively un- 
developed. Eitiough however has been done to demonstrate its fertility and 
productiveness and its possibilities when the white man shall be able to 
take the helm. 

The country is splendidly watered. It has many large valleys and num- 
erous smaller ones. Their climatic conditionis are quite similar. The mean 
elevation of the valleys being about 3000 feet above sea level. Some of the 



THE FLATHEAD 05 

valleysi are of sandy, gravelly soil while others are of a heavy loam, but all 
highly producitlve when put under cultivation. The sandy, gravelly soils 
require irrigation. Those of loam require less irrigation, and in some sec- 
tions, particularly where there is a hard pan sub-soil, none at all is neces- 
sary. T'he latter is also' true of miiich of the land along the creek bottoms. 
Probably one-half of the farming land of the reservation requires no irriga- 
tion. The general agricultural and hoirticultural possibilities of the reser- 
vation are similar to those of the farming sections of Missoula, and Flat- 
head counties which adjoin on either side, and where results have been ob- 
tained thiat excel thosie of nearly every other section of the Union. If there 
be any advanitage in either section, that advantage is with the reservation. 
It is an absolute certainty that any products of the adjoining counties can 
be equally as successfully produced there. 




NEAR ST. IGNATIUS 



The Flathead reservation has an almost ideal climate. During the win- 
ter of 1903 and 4 the zero point was reached but twice and then the cold was 
of but a few days duration. The winter preceding was equally as mild. 
Little snow falls in the valleys and sleighing for more than a day or two at 
a time is almost unknown. When there is a fall of snow it is usually car- 
ried away by a Chinook wind. This is a warm southwestern wind from the 
Pacific, and a large fall of snow will ofttimes disappear during a night from 
its influence. Higher up in the mountains however there is a heavy snow 
fall. These miajestic ranges are white froim early fall until late the follow- 
ing summer, and on some of the higher peaks the snows never disappear, 
and can be seen shining brightly during the hotest days of summer. This is 
a wise provision of nature for by this snow are numberless little mountain 
streams fed, and they in turn feed the larger ones that supply the rancher 
with an abundance of water for his crops. There is frequently a cold spell 



CG 



LAND OP THE FLATHBADS 



of three or four days duration in November after which the weather moder- 
ates and is often and in fact usually is warm and fine until the middle of 
December and frequently until the first of the year. 

During January there is often cold weather. At rare intervals the ther- 
mometer will reach below zero. February is often stormy but some years 
open and pleasant and during this month plowing is often done. March is 
an uncertain month, but farming operations are generally under full head- 
way toward the last of the month. Thus is the short winter ended. The 
summers are perfect. While it is quite warm during the day, the nights are 
always cool and refreshing. There are no sleepless nights on account of 




the heat. June is the rainy month of the year. This is fortunate as crops 
at this period need the rain and the days of warm sunshine that follow. 

iSuch a mild climate in this northern latitude may seem impossible to 
the stranger. It must however be born in mind that the great mountain 
ranges and the trade winds from the Pacific which prevail here to an ex- 
tent, modify and change the conditions, and our climate is conse:iuently 
much milder than the climate of a prairie state of the same northern latitude. 

During the present winter while storms have been raging in nearly all 
sections of the Union and severe cold prevailing, Western Montana has seen 
but three days with the thermometer below zero, and there is now but little 
snow upon the ground. 



THE FLATHEAD 



07 



These mild climatic conditions in connection with the equally favorable 
range conditions make the Flathead an exceedingly favorable locality for 
the raising of live stock. Some of the full bloods and many of the mixed 
bloodis have accumulated 
fortunes during the past 
lew years raismg cattle. 
Were it not for the large 
numiber of ponies of an 
inferior grade ranging 
upon the reservation, it 
would be an ideal stock 
country. These little 
ponies are very destruc- 
tive to ranges and consid- 
ering their numbers, they 
ihave during the past few 
years been a heavy tax 
upon the ranges. With 
the opening of the reser- 
vation these herds of In- 
dian ponies will necessar- 
ily be disposed of. The 
Indians from the earliest 
times have always looked 
upon their horses as their 
riches, the number of 
head, regardless of size or 
grade, being the basis of 
their calculations, and for 
this reason have been 
loath to part with them. 

The pure dry a i r 
makes' the most healthful 
conditions prevail here. 
There is practically no 
contagious diseases. For 
persons suffering from 
asthma, hay fever, and 
consumption, there are 
few places better, cer- 
tainly not for asthma and 
hay fever. For consump- 
tion, the outdoor life is 
best. Camping in the 
mountains, sleeping on the 
dry earth, breathing the 
fragrance of the pines, 




C8 



LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 



climbing the mountains, fishing and shooting and eating the wild game will 
give back health. 

On the western part of the reservation there are a number of hot 
springs which are visited by many white people each year. They are very 
beneficial to those suffering from rheumiatism and often effect cures quite 
remarkable. The drinking of this water is very helpful for all stomach 
diseases. 

Mere words cannot adequately describe the varied and wonderful 
scenery to be found here. It has well been called the Switzerland of 
America. A gentleman who has traveled extensively in foreign lands truth- 
fully remarked that thousands of people annually cross the Atlantic to see 
that which is inferior in every way to what can be seen any day on this 
beautiful reservation. The Mission range is remarkalble for its high snow 
capped peaks, rugged and precipitous sides and deep gorges, so inaccessible 
that only the mountain lion or moccasined foot of an Indian has ever suc- 
ceeded in reaching them. Streamis fed by the everlasting snows plunge 
over ragged mountain ledges, feeding crystal lakes which lie nestled in the 
dark forests at their feet. 

The greatest lake, the Flathead, lies one 
half within the lines of the reservation. It is 
30 miles long and from 8 to 16 wide, and is a 
most beautiful sheet of water. It is so clear 
that the great speckled beauties that live in 
its depths may be seen scores of feet below 
the surface. Surrounded by great forests and 
rugged mounitain chains, dotted with its many 
emerald islands, it is indeed a panorama of 
beauty near which one might well wish to pass 
his life, close to nature and its ever present 
scenes of grandeur. 

Other lakes, smaller, but none the less 
beautiful are numerous. Lake McDonald, at 
the foot of a peak of the same name with an 
elevation of 10400 feet, is perhaps unexcelled 
for beauty and grandeur anywhere in the west. 
St. Mary's lying near the divide between the 
Mission and Jocko rivers is scarcely less beau- 
tiful. There are others (high among the moun- 
tains whose waters are ice cold the year round. 
In some of these, even at great elevations, 
brook trout are found in great abundance. 
There are probably at least 100 lakes on this 
reservation. 

In the spring and early summer thousands of bright colored flowers 
literally cover the valleys and foothills. Here the wild syringa grows in 
great profusion and its odors perfume the very atmosphere. The wild rose 
and dog tooth violet add their beauty and fragrance to Nature's charms. 




THE FLATHEAD 



G9 



To the miner and prospector these mountain ranges offer many golden 
opportunities. Prospecting has been prohibited on the reservation by the 
Government and the Indians have with jealous care helped to enforce the 
ordeT, well knowing that if the hidden treasures of those old mountains 
were found by the white man, it would not be long until he would have 
possession of their country. There is good reason to believe that there are 
valuable mines on the reservation. Many specimens of high grade ore have 
been found there and with the opening, when prospectors will be allowed to 
search for the ledges, it is believed that mines of great value will be located. 




THE Wir.D SYRINGA 



The Pend d'Oreille river drains Flathead lake. Not far from where the 
lake emptlesi into the river, a succession of rapids and falls begins which 
extends for nearly four miles, furnishing one of the greatest opportunities for 
developing an immense water power to be found in the west. Not many 
years hence this great natural power will be harnesisied and will supply 
power for some flourishing city that will spring up on the reservation. 
There is enough power in these rapids and falls to supply all of Western 
Montana. 

It is probable that there is not less than one half million acres of good 
farming land on the reservation and a large amount of upland and grazing 



';o 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



land that may prove valuable when placed under cultivation. In the ab- 
sence of surveys, only an estimate can be made, but it is believed that the 
above figures v^ill be found practically correct. From the above, the Indians, 
numbering about 2000 will be alloted 80 acres each. This will require IGO,- 
000 acres, leaving unappropriated approximately 340,000 acres of choice lands 
for location. 

It has often been asked if the Indians will not select the choicest of 
these lands. The answer seems to be that this will not necessarily be the 
case. The Indians will have an opportunity of selecting their allotments 
from any lands unappropriated, but it must be born in mind that many of 
them have already located and fenced their farms. Many of these farms 
are not on the best part of the reservation, nor of the best lands. They will 
ask to have their fenced 
tracts allotted to them. 
The Indians, it is safe 
to say, in taking their 
allotments will not in 
general secure above 
the average of the lands 
of the farming section. 
There are probably 150,- 
000 acres of timber 
lands, 300,000 mountain 
and 450,000 grazing 
lands. It must how- 
ever be understood that 
these are estimates, as 
there are no surveys 
from which it is pos- 
sible to secure accurate 
figures. It is believed 
however that the above 
are practically correct. 
Flathead reservation 
will when opened to 
settlement furnish land 
for thousands of settlers where by labor, industry, and thrift, happy and 
prosperous homes will be builded. Great mines will be opened up, adding 
their quota to the world's wealth. Smelters will be erected to reduce the 
ores. Saw mills will cut the virgin forests into lumber. Flouring mills 
will be required to grind the wheat. Cities will spring up to handle the 
business of this new country, and railroads will be builded to haul its 
products to market. Steamers will ply over the great Flathead lake, and 
on its shores summer homes and health resorts will be built. The abund- 
ance of fish, and game, together with the perfect climatic conditions make 
this an ideal spot for camping, hunting, and fishing. The beauty and 
grandeur of the scenery is unsurpassed in the west. No more lovely coun- 




MONTANA FI^ORA 



THE FLATHEAD 



71 



try than this can be found and it will become the favorite resort of the 
tourist and pleasure seeker. 

It is a land of plenty. Providence has been lavish in her gifts to this 
favored section. No wonder the Indians have so long jealously guarded in 
fear and trembling the lands of their forefathers and of their birth. The 




L-»^rc- «'•/*'%*,■?- ■ 



■ ■^^'^z'-^.'^i.i 



'^^^■^■'•^j"^^^ 



=d 



ruthless progress of white civilization has finally demanded its surrender, 
and the land of the Indian will soon be the land of the white man. Marvel 
not that the Red man is loath to share his lands with his white brother. 
This to him the fairest, the dearest, the brightest of earth, the last rem- 
nant of his former greatness will soon pass from him. So must it be. 



OPENING AND SETTLEMENT 



An act for the survey and allotment of lands now embraced within 
the limits of the Flathead Indian Reservation, iu the vState of Mon- 
tana, and the sale and disposal of all surplus lands after allotment. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress; assembled. That the Secretary of the Interior 
be, and he is' hereby, directed to immediately cause to be surveyed all of the 
Flathead Indian Reservation, situated within the Sifcate of Mion'tana, the same 
being particularly described and set forth in article two of a certain treaty 
entered into by and between Isaac H. Stevens, governor and superintendent 
of Indian affairs for the Territory of Washington, on the part of the United 
States, and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the confederated tribes of 
the Flathead, Kootenai, and Upper Pend d'Oreille Indians, on the sixteenth 
day of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-five. 

Sec. 2. That so soon as alil of the lands em'braced within said Flathead 
Indian Reservation shall have been surveyed, the Comimissioner of Indian 
Affairs shall cause allotments of the same tO' be made to all persons having 
tribal rights with said confederated tribes of Flatheadfe, Kootenais, Upper 
Pend d'Oreille, and such other Indians and persons holding tribal relations 
as may rightfully belong on said Flathead Indian Reservation, including the 
Lower Pend d'Oreille or Kalispell Indians now on the reservation, under the 
provisions of the allotment laws of the United States. 

Sec. 3. That upon the final completion of said allotments to siaid 
Indians, the President of the United States shall appoint a coTnTnission con- 
sisting of five persons to inspect, appraise, and value all of the said lands 
that shall not have been allotted in severalty to said Indians, the said persons 
so constituting said commission to be as follows: Two of said commis- 
sioners so named by the President shall be two persons now holding tribal 
relations with said Indians^ — the same may be designated tO' the President by 
the chiefs and headmen of said confederated tribes of Indians, two of said 
com'missioners shall be resident citizens of the State of Montana, and one of 
said commissioners shall be a United States special Indian agent or Indian 
inspector of the Interior Department. 

Sec. 4. That within thirty days after their appointment said commission 
shall meet at some point within the boundaries of said Flathead Indian Res- 
ervation and organize by the election of one of their numiber as chairman. 
Said commission is hereby empowered to select a clerk at a salary not to 
exceed seven dollars per day. 

Sec. 5. That said commissioners sihall then proceed to personally 
inspect and classify and appraise, by the smallest legal subdivisionsi of forty 
acres each, all of the remaining lands emibraced within said reservation. In 
making such classification and appraisement said lands shall be divided into 
the following classes: First, agricultural land of the first class; second, 
agricultural land of the second class; third, timber lands, the same to be 
lands more valuable for their timiber than for any other purpose; fourth, 
mineral lands; and fifth, grazing lands. 

Sec. 6. That said commission shall in their report of lands of the third 
class determine as nearly as possible the amount of standing saw timber on 
legal subdivisions thereof and fix a minimum price for the value thereof, and 
in determining the amount of merchantable timber growing thereon they 
shall be empowered to employ a timber cruiser, at a salary of not more than 
eight dollars per day while so actually employed, with such assistants as 
may be necessary, at a salary not to exceed six dollars per day while so 
actually employed. 'Mineral lands shall not be appraised as to- value. 

Sec. 7. That said commissioners, excepting said special agent and 
inspector of the Interior Department, shall be paid a salary of not to exceed 



74 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

ten dollars per day each while actually employed in the inspection and classi- 
fication of said lands; such inspection and classification to be fully completed 
within one year from date of the organization of said commission. 

iSec. 8. That when said commission shall have completed the classifica- 
tion and appraisement of all of said lands and the same shall have been 
approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the land sihall be disposed of under 
the general provisions of the homestead, mineral, and to'wn^site laws of the 
United States, except such of said lands as shall have been classified as 
timber lands, and excepting sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township, 
which are hereby granted toi the State of Montana; for school purposes. And 
in case either of said sections or parts thereof ISi lost to^ the said State of 
iMontana by reason of allotments thereof to any Indian or Indians now hold- 
ing the same, or otherwise, the governor of said (State, with the approval of 
the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby authorlzedi, in the tract under con- 
sideration, to locate other lands not occupied, not exceeding two sections in 
any one township, and such selections shall be made prior to the opening of 
such lands to settlement: Provided, That the United States shall pay to 
said Indians for the lands in said sections sixteen and thirty-six, or the lands 
selected in lieu thereof, the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 

Sec. 9. That said lands shall be opened to settlem,ent and entry by 
proclamation of the President, which proclamation shall prescribe the time 
when and the manner in which these lands may be settled upon, occupied, 
and entered by persons entitled to make entry thereof, and no person shall 
be permitted to settle upon, occupy, or enter any of said lands, except as 
prescribed in such proclamation: Provided, That the rights of honorably 
discharged Union soldiers and sailors of the late civil and the Spanish wars, 
as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and 
twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the 
Act of March first, nineteen hundred and one, shall not be abridged: Pro- 
vided further, That the price of said lands shall be the appraised value 
thereof, as fixed by the said commission, but settlers under the homestead 
law who shall reside upon and cultivate the land entered in good faith for 
the period required by existing law shall pay one-third of the appraised value 
in cash at the time of entry, and the remainder in five equal annual install- 
ments to be paid one, two, three, four, and five years, respectively, from and 
after the date of entry, and shall be entitled to a patent for the lands so en- 
tered upon the payment to the local land officers of said five annual pay- 
ments, and in addition thereto the same fees and' commissions at the time of 
commutation or final entry as now provided by law where the price of the 
land is one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and no other and further 
charge of any kind whatsoever shall be required of such settler to entitle 
him to a patent for the land covered by his entry: Provi'^ed, That if any 
entryman fails to make such payments, or any of them, within the time 
stated, all rights in and to the land covered by his or her entry shall at once 
cease, and any payments theretofore made shall be forfeited, and the entry 
shall be forfeited and canceled: And provided, That nothing in this Act 
shall prevent homestead settlers from commuting their entries under sec- 
tion twenty-three hundred and one. Revised Statutes, by paying for the land 
entered the price fixed by said comimission, receiving credit for payments 
previously made. 

Sec. 10. That only mineral entry may be made on such of said landis 
as said commission shall designate and classify as mineral under the gen- 
eral provisions of the mining laws of the United States-, and mineral entry 
may also be made on any of said lands whether designated by said com- 
mission as mineral lands or otherwise, such classification by said commis- 
sion being only prima facie evidence of the mineral or nonmineral character 
of the same: Provided, That no such mineral locations shall be permitted 
upon any lands allotted in severalty to an Indian. 

Sec. 11. That all of said lands returned and classified by said commis- 
sion as timber lands shall be sold and disposed of by the Secretary of the 
Interior under sealed bids to the highest bidder for cash or at public auc- 
tion, as the Secretary of the Interior may determine, under such rules and 
regulations as he may prescribe. 

'Sec. 12. That the President may reserve and except from said lands 



OPENING AND SETTLEMENT 75 

not to exceed nine hundred and sixty acres for Catholic mission schools, 
church, and hospital and such other eleemosynary institutions as may now 
be maintained by the Catholic Church on said reservation, which lands are 
hereby granted to those religious organizations of the Catholic Church now 
occupying the same, known as the Society of Jesus, the Sisters of Charity 
of Providence, and the Ursuline Nuns, the said lands to be granted in the 
following amounts, namely, to the Society of Jesus, six hundredi and forty 
acres, to the Sisters of Charity of Providence, one hundred and sixty acres, 
and to the Ursuline Nuns, one hundred and sixty acres, such lands to be 
reserved and granted for the uses indicated only so long as the same are 
maintained and occupied by said organizations for the purposes indicated. 
The President is also authorized to reserve lands upon the same conditions 
andi for similar purposes for any other missionary or religious societies 
that may make application therefor within one year after the passage of this 
Act, in such quantity as he may deem proper. The President may also 
reserve such of said lands as may be convenient or necessary for the occu- 
pation and maintenance of any and all agency buildings, substations, mills, 
and other governmental institutions now in use on said reservation or which 
may be used or occupied by the Govermment of the United States. 

Sec. 13. That all of said lands classified as agricultural lands of the 
first class and agricultural lands of the second class and grazing lands that 
shall be opened to settlement under this Act remaining undisposed of at the 
expiration of five years from the taking effect of this Act shall be sold and 
disposed of to the highest bidder for cash, under rules and regulations to be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, at not less than^ their appraised 
value, and in tracts not to exceed six hundred and forty acres to any one 
person. 

Sec. 14. That the proceeds received from the sale of said lands in con- 
formity with this Act shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, 
and after deducting the expenses of the commiission, of classification and 
sale of lands, and such other incidental expenses as shall have been neces- 
sarily incurred, and expenses of the survey of the lands, shall be expended 
or paid, as follows: One-half shall be expended from time to time by the 
Secretary of the Interior as he may deem advisable for the benefit of the 
said Indians and such persons having tribal rights on the reservation, includ- 
ing the Lower Pend d'Oreille or Kalispell thereon at the time that this Act 
shall take effect, in the construction of irrigation ditches, the purchase of 
stock cattle, farming implements, or other necessary articles to aid the 
Indians in farming and stock raising, and in the ediiication and civilization 
of said Indians, and the remaining" half to be paid to the said Indians and 
such persons having tribal rights on the reservation, including the Lower 
Pend d'Oreille or Kalispel thereon at the date of the proclamation provided 
for in section nine hereof, or expended on their account, as they may elect. 

Sec. 15. That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, or so much thereof as miay be necessary, to pay for the lands granted 
to the State of Montana and for lands reserved for agency, school, and mis- 
sion purposes, as provided in sections eight and twelve of this Act, at the 
rate ot one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; also the sum of seventy- 
five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, the same to 
be reimbursable out of the funds arising from the sale of said lands to 
enable the Secretary of the Interior to survey the lands of said reservation 
as provided in section one of this Act. 

Sec. 16. That nothing in this Act contained shall in any manner bind 
the United States to purchase any portion of the land herein described, 
except sections sixteen and thirty-six, or the equivalent, in each town shin, 
and the reserved tracts mentioned in section twelve, or to dispose of said 
land except as provided herein, or to guarantee to find purchasers for s^id 
lands or any portion thereof, it being the intention of this Act that the 
United States shall act as trustee for said Indians to dispose of said lands 
and to expend and pay over the proceeds received from the sale thereof 
only as received. 

Approved, April 23, 1904. 



76 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



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\VII,D GROUSE NEST IN FOREST 




WIIJ) GROUSE CHICKS 



OPENING AND SETTLEMENT 77 

It is not possible at this time to state definitely when the reservation 
will be opened. IThe bill providing for its opening requires that the lands 
be first surveyed, then allotments are to be made to the Indians. After the 
allotments are made, a Commission, appointed by the President will ap- 
praise the lands. Immediately following the appraisement, it is presumed 
that the President will issue the proclamation specifying the manner and 
time of opening. The surveys are now well under way. The allotting will 
doubtless begin as soon as the surveys are sufficiently advanced. The 
time required for the allotting will depend very largely upon the Department. 
The work may be quite speedily done if vigorously pushed. The time 
allowed to the Commission for the appraising of the land is limited to one 
year. It is thought however that the Commission may be able to perform 
its work within a few months. It is understood that Montana's representa- 
tives in Congress propose to urge the prompt allotting of the lands to the 
Indians, in order that the Commission may begin its labors of appraising at 
the earliest time possible. Much depends upon the Department. Prompt 
and vigorous action will greatly facilitate and hasten the opening. 

The manner of opening will be prescribed by the President. It is impos- 
sible of course to state definitely what the method will be, but it is believed 
that the plan adopted by the Government some years ago for opening reser- 
vations, and which has been generally very satisfactory, will be followed in 
the opening of the Flathead. 

This method was employed in opening the Rosebud reservation in 
South Dakota in 1904, and it seems reasonably certain that it will be followed 
in the case ol the Flathead. This manner of opening reservations is emi- 
nently fair to all concerned. It gives every applicant an equal chance for 
obtaining the choicest of lands. 

That the reader may be able to gather as much information as possible 
in advance regarding the plan, a portion of the President's proclamation pro- 
viding for the opening of the Rosebud reservation is herewith presented. 



OPENING OF SIOUX INDIAN LANDS OF THE ROSEBUD RESERVATION, 

SOUTH DAKOTA. 

By the President of the United States of America — A Proclamation. 

And whereas all of the conditions required by law to be performed prior 
to the opening of said tracts of land to settlement and entry have been, as 
I hereby declare, duly performed; 

Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States 
of America, by virtue of the power vestd in me by law, do hereby declare and 
make known that all of the lands so as aforesaid ***** 
will, on the 8th day of August, 1904, at 9 o'clock a. m., in the manner 
herein prescribed, and not otherwise, be opened to entry and settlement and 
to disposition under the general provisions of the homestead and town site 
laws of the United States. 

Commencing at 9 o'clock a. m. Tuesday, July 5, 1904, and ending at 6 
o'clock p. m. Saturday, July 23, 1904, a registration will be had at Chamber- 
lain, Yankton, Bonesteel, and Fairfax, State of South Dakota, for the purpose 



78 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

of ascertaining what persons desire to enter, settle upon, and acquire title 
to any of said land's under ihe homestead law, and of ascertaining their 
qualifications so to do. To obtain registration each applicant will be 
required to show himself duly qualified, by written application to be made 
only on a blank form provided by the Commissioner of the General Lrand 
Office, to miake homestead entry of these lands under existing laws, and to 
give the registering officer such appropriate matters of description and iden- 
tity as will protect the applicant and the Government against any attempted 
impersonation. Registration can not be effected through the use of the 
mails or the employment of an agent, excepting that honorably discharged 
soldiers and sailors entitled to the benefits of section 2304 of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States, as amended by the act of Congress approved 
March 1, 1901 (31 Stat., 847), may present their applications for registration 
and due proofs of their qualifications through an agent of their own selec- 
tion, having a duly executed power of attorney, but no person will be per- 
mitted to act as agent for more than one such soldier or sailor. No person 
will be permitted to register more than once or in any other than his true 
name. 

Each applicant who shows himself duly qualified will be registered and 
given a nontransferable certificate to that effect, which will entitle him to go 
upon and examine the lands to be opened hereunder; but the only purpose 
for which he can go upon and examine said lands is that of enabling him 
later on, as herein provided, to understandingly select the lands for which 
he will make entry. No one will be permitted to make settlement upon any 
of said lands in advance of the opening herein provided for, and during the 
first sixty days following said opening no one but registered applicants will 
be permitted to make homestead settlement upon any of said lands, and then 
only in pursuance of a homestead entry duly allowed by the local land offi- 
cers, or of a soldier's declaratory statement duly accepted by such officers, 

The order in which, during the first sixty days following the opening, 
the registered applicants will be permitted to make homestead entry of the 
lands opened hereunder, will be determmed by a drawing for the district 
publicly held at Chamiberlain, S. Dak., commencing at 9 o'clock a. m., Thurs- 
day, July 28, 1904, and continuing for such period as may be necessary to 
complete the same. The drawing will be had under the supervision and 
immediate observance of a committee of three persons whose integrity is 
such as to make their control of the drawing a guaranty of its fairness. The 
members of this committee will be appointed by the Secretary of the Inter- 
ior, who will prescribe suitable compensation for their services. Preparatory 
to this drawing the registration officers will, at the time of registering each 
applicant who shows himself duly qualified, make out a card, which must be 
signed by the applcant, and giving such a description of the applicant as 
will enable the local land officers to thereafter identify him. This card 
will be subsequently sealed in a separate envelope which will bear no other 
distinguishing label or mark than such as may be necessary to show that it 
is to go into the drawing. These envelopes will be carefully preserved and 
remain sealed until opened in the course of the drawing herein provided. 
When the registration is completed, all of these sealed envelopes will be 
brought together at the place of drawing and turned over to the committee 
in charge of the drawing, who, in such manner as in their judgment will be 
attended with entire fairness and equality of opportunity, shall proceed to 
draw out and open the separate envelopes and to give to each inclosed card 
a number in the order in which the envelope containing the same is drawn. 
The result of the drawing will be certified by the committee to the officers 
of the district and will determine the order in which the applicants may 
make homestead entry of said lands and settlement thereon. 

Notice of the drawings, stating the name of each applicant and 
number assigned to him by the drawing, will be posted each day at 
the place of drawing, and each applicant will be notified of his num- 
ber, and of the day upon which he must make his entry, by a postal 
card mailed to him at the address given by him at the time of registration. 
The result of each day's drawing will also be given to the press to be pub- 
lished as a matter of news. Applications for homestead entry of said lands 
during the first sixty day following the opening can be made only by regis- 



OPENING AND SETTLEMENT 79 

tered applicants and in the order established by the drawing. The land 
officers for the district will receive applications for entries at Bonesteoel, 
S. Dak., in their district, beginning August 8, 1904, and until and including 
September 10, 1904, and thereafter at C'hamiberlain. Commencing Monday, 
August 8, 1904, at 9 o'clock a. m., the applications of those drawing numbers 
1 to 100, inclusive, must be presented and will be considered in their numeri- 
cal order during the first day, and the applications of those drawing numbers 
101 to 200, inclusive, must be presented and will be considered in their 
numerical order during the second day, and so on at that rate until all of 
said lands subject to entry under the homestead law, and desired thereunder, 
have been entered. If any applicant fails to appear and present his applica- 
tion for entry when the number asisigned to him by the drawing is reached, 
his right to enter will be passed until after the other lapplications assignied 
for that day have been disposed of, when he will be given another oppor- 
tunity to make entry, failing in which he will be deemed to have abandoned 
his right to make entry under such drawing. 

To obtain the allowance of a homestead entry, each applicant must per- 
sonally present the certificate of registration theretofore issued to him, 
together with a regular homestead application and the necessary accompany- 
ing proofs, and make the first payment of $1 per acre for the land emibraced V-^-^ 
in his application, together with the regular land office fees, but an honor- 
ably discharged soldier or sailor may file his declaratory statement through 
his agent, who can represent but one soldier or sailor as in the matter of 
registration. The production of the certificate of registration will be dis- 
pensed with only upon satisfactory proof of its loss or destruction. If at 
the time of considering his regular application for entry it appear that an 
applicant is disqualified from making homestead entry of these lands, his 
application will be rejected, notwithstanding his prior registration. If any 
applicant shall register more than once hereunder, or in any other than his 
true name, or shall transfer his registration certificate, he will thereby lose 
all the benefits of the registration and drawing herein provided for, and will 
be precluded from entering or settling upon any of said lands during the 
first sixty days following said opening. 

Any person or persons desiring to found, or to suggest establishing, a 
townsite upon any of the said ceded lands, at any point, may, at any time 
before the opening herein provided for, file in the land office a written appli- 
cation to that effect, describing by legal subdivisions the lands intended to 
be affected, and stating fully and under oath the necessity or propriety of 
founding or establishing a town at that place. The local officers will forth- 
with transmit said petition to the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
with their recommendation in the premises. Such Commissioner, if he 
believes the public interests will be subserved thereby, will, if the Secretary 
of the Interior approve thereof, issue an order withdrawing the lands 
described in such petition, or any portion thereof, from homestead entry and 
settlement and directing that the same be held for the time being for town- 
site settlement, entry, and disposition only. In such event the lands so 
withheld from homestead entry and settlement will, at the time of said open- 
ing and not before, become subject to settlement, entry, and disposition 
under the general townsite laws of the United States. None of said ceded 
lands will be subject to settlement, entry, or disposition under such general 
townsite laws except in the manner herein prescribed until after the expira- 
tion of sixty days from the time of said opening. 

All persons are especially admonished that under the said act of Con- 
gress approved April 23, 1904, it is provided that no person shall be per- 
mitted to settle upon, occupy, or enter any of said ceded lands except in the 
manner prescribed in this proclamation until after the expiration of sixty 
days from the time when the same are opened to settlement and entry. 
After the expiration of the said period of sixty days, but not before, and 
until the expiration of three months after the same shall have been opened 
for settlement and entry, as hereinbefore prescribed, any of said lands 
remaining undisposed of may be settled upon, occupied, and entered under 
the general provisions of the homestead and townsite laws of the United 
States in like manner as if the manner of effecting such settlement, occu- 
pancy, and entry had not been prescribed herein in obedience to law, subject. 



80 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

however, to the payment of four dollars per acre for the land entered, in the 
manner and at the time required by the said act of Congress ahove naenr 
tioned. After the expiration of three months, and not before, and until the 
expiration of six nLonths after the same shall have been opened for settle- 
ment and entry, as aforesaid, any of said lands remaining undisposed of may 
also be settled upon, occupied, and entered under the general provisions of 
the same laws and in the same manner, subject, however, to the payment of 
three dollars per acre for the land entered in the manner and at the times 
required by the same act of Congress. 

After the expiration of six months, and not before, after the same shall 
have been opened for settlement and entry, as aforsaid, any of said lands 
remaining undisposed of may also be settled upon, oocupiedi, and entered 
under the general provisions of the same Laws and in the same manner, sub- 
ject, however, to the payment of $2.50 per acre for the land entered, in the 
manner and at the times required by the same act of Congress. And after 
the expiration of four years from the taking effect of this act, and not before, 
any of said lands remaining undisposed of shall be sold and disposed of for 
cash, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the 
Interior, not more than 640 acres to any one purchaser. 

The Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe all needful rules and regu- 
lations necessary to carry into full effect the opening hereia provided for. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand ;aiid caused the seal of 
the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington this 13th d^ay of May, in the year of our 
Lord 1904, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred 
and twenty-eighth. 

By the President: 
[SEAL] THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

JO'HN HAY, 

Secretary of State. 

The following circular relative to persons not qualified to -make home- 
stead entry on the Rosebud reservation will doubtless be applica%4e to the 
same class of persons at the opening of the Flathead reservation: 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 

Washington, D. C, May 23, 1904. 

The following persons are not qualified to make homestead entry in the 
ceded portion of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, S. Dak,: 

1. Any person who has made a prior homestead entry and is not entitled 
to make a second homestead entry. Under the act of June 5, 1900 (31 Stat,, 
267), any person who prior to June 5, 1900, made a homestead entry, but from 
any cause had lost, forfeited, or commuted the same, is entitled to make a 
second homestead entry; under the act of May 22, 1902 (32 Stat., 203), any 
person who made final five-year proof, prior to May 17, 1900, on lands to be 
sold for the benefit of Indians and paid the price provided by law opening 
the land to settlement, and who would have been entitled under the "free 
homestead" law to have received title without such payment, had not proof 
been made prior thereto, is entitled to make a second homestead entry; under 
the act of April 28, 1904 (Public No. 208), any person who prior to April 28, 
1904, made homestead entry but was unable to perfect the entry on account 
of some unavoidable complication of his personal or business affairs, or on 
account of an honest mistake as to the character of the land, provided he 
made a bona fide effort to comply with the homestead law and did not relin- 
quish his entry for a consideration, is entitled to make a second homestead 
entry; under section 2 of said act any person who has made a homestead 
entry of a quantity of land containing less than 160 acres, contiguous to the 
ceded lands of said reservation, and is still owning and occupying the same, 
may enter a sufficient quantity of said lands to make- up the full amount of 



OPENING AND SETTLEMENT 81 

160 acres; under section 6 of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat., 854), any per- 
son who has made a homestead entry for less than 160 acres, and has 
received the receiver's final receipt therefor, is entitled to enter enough addi- 
tional land, not necessarily contiguous to the original entry, to make 160 
acres. 

2. A married woman, unless she has been deserted or abandoned by 
her husband. 

3. One not a citizen of the United States, and who has not declared his 
intention to become such. 

4. Anyone under 21 years of age, not the head of a family, unless he 
served in the Army or Navy of the United States for not less than fourteen 
days during actual war. 

5. Anyone who is the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in any 
State or Territory. 

6. One who has acquired title to, or is now claiming under any of the 
agricultural public land laws, in pursuance of settlement or entries made 
since August 30, 1890, an amount of land which, with the tract now sought 
to be entered, will exceed in the aggregate 320 acres. 

W. A. RICHARDS, 

Commissioner. 
Approved. 

THOS. RYAN, 

Acting Secretary. 



RESULTS AND YIELDS 



^ 



O THE individuail whose experience has been confined to the aver- 
age farm conditions of the east, the agricultural possibilities of 
Montana wihen truthfully set forth miay seem, over estimated. 
This is accounted for by the fact that the experiences of the 
average person of the east has been only with that class of land 
which has been robbed of all of its fertility long years ago. The 
farm land of the west is fertile and productive and will always 
remain so under a system of irrigation — la fact proven and fully 
substantiated by the same enormous yields that continue to be harvested 
IrO'm year to year on Irrigated lands, in the older irrigated sections of the 
United States, and Elurope as well. 

The average yield of many of the grasses and cereals per acre is larger 
in Montana than in any other state of the Union. A glance at the figures 
of the last Federal census regarding average acreage yields should be con- 
clusive on that question. These census figures show that Montana farms 
outrank those of every other state in the Union in average acreage yields 
of wheat, save one. 

In oats these lands outrank every state except two. 

In barley Montana valley landfe stand third in production. 

In rye they rank first, and in root crops and hay the census figures 
show that they out yield every other state in the Union. 

It is significant that Montana's closest rivals are all Western States, 
and are all enjoying the benefits of irrigation. What Montana lands will do 
under intense cultivation is little short of phenominal. It is doubtful if any 
other state in the Union can duplicate the results obtained here in recent 
years. Scattering instances of yields are given below from among scores 
of like cases: 

15 acres of Beaverhead valley land of one year's seeding yielded GO 
tons of timothy hay, or four tons to the acre. 

In Yellowstone county, one acre yielded 150 bushels and 16 pounds of 
oats. 

In Flathead county, 9% acres yielded 724 bushels of wheat, or 7G 
bushels per acre. 

Gallatin valley farms in large tracts have yielded 125 and 130 bushels 
of barley to the acre, while yields of 100 bushels per acre are so common 
as to attract little attention'. At the Montana experiment station located at 
Bozeman, intensified farming methods show a spring wheat yield under two 
irrigations with a growing season of 116 to 133 days, from 48 to 74 bushels 
of grain per acre. In this test many different varieties of wheat were 
grown. 

In oats, with two irrigations with a growing season of 117 to 124 days, 



84 LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 

from 77 to 107 bushels of grain per acre were yielded. The straw in this 
experiment weighed from 3000 to 5190 pounds per acre. 

" In potatoes 67 varieties with two irrigations, growing season from May 
25th to October 7th, yielded G96 to 961 bushels to the acre. 




In barley 25 varieties, growing season from 101 to 119 days, with two 
irrigations yielded from 48 to 68 bushels of grain per acre. 

In this connection it may be said that the Experiment Station is not 
so well located for barley raising as many other large tracts of land in the 
same valley, the Gallatin. 




In actual farming results, independent of the Experiment Sitation and 
upon imimense tracts of land, the following are noted: On a farm of 4183 
acres under 112 miles of irrigating ditches 225,762 bushels of mixed grain 
were raised, including barley, oats, wheat, and flax. The total value of the 
yield was $110,762.56, the average yield of grain per acre being 54 bushels. 



RESULTS AND YIELDS 



85 



The average financial yield per 
acre was $24.00. The average 
value per bushel of grain was 
44 cents. The average yield of 
barley was 59 bushels; of oaLs 
73 bushels; of wheat 37 bushels; 
of flax 20 bushels per acre. 
This immense acreage was 
dividted as follows according to 
grain: Barley 1617 acres; oats 
982 acres; wheat 1654 acres; 
flax 30 acres. 

Upon another and well cul- 
tivated farm of several thousand 
acres an average per acre for 
four years of 65 bushels of oats, 
weighing 42 pounds to the 
bushel and bringing in open 
market, $1.25 per hundred 
pounds was obtained. The 





Oats, Grown Without Irrigation in Fi.at- 
HEAD County; Height, G Ft. 6 In. 



gross returns were $34.00 
per acre. The average cost 
of seeding, plowing, leveling, 
ditching, irrigating, harvest- 
ing and marketing, was 
$12.00 per acre, leaving a net 
return of $22.00 per acre. 

In considering the facts 
above set forth regarding 
Montana's lands, it must be 
remembered that the results 
are obtained from a manner 
of farming which gives far 
from complete results. The 
quarter section farm, large 
as it may seem in some 
states, is but a garden patch 
when compared with many of 
the big tracts farmed under 
one system in Montana. 
Individual farmers in many 
portions of the state are 
farming two. th^ee, and four 
sections of land, and endeav- 
o r 1 n g to get intensified 
results. In the Bitter Root 



SQ 



LAND OF THE FLAT'HEADS 



valley is located tlie Bitter 
Root stock farm containing 
over 27,000 acres of land. 
True, this ranch has been 
brought to the highest state 
of agriiculitural and horticul- 
tural cultivation possible for 
So immense a tract, but it is 
quite safe to say that, with a 
farmer on every 80 or IGO 
acres, two or three fold as 
great reisults might be ob- 
tained. The results from this 
farm have 
to those here- 
tioned, and 
possibly b e 
from farming 
large scale, 
farm, well 
erly c u 1 1 i- 
a 1 w a y 
the dividend 
farming i n 
mo exception 
Here the 
tract will pro- 



r 












been similar 
tofore men- 
all that could 
expected 
on such a 
The small 
and p r o p- 
V a t e d, has 
proven to be 
payer, and 
Montana i s 
to this rule, 
eighty acre 
duce double 
the amounf that can be raised on 
the same amount of land in the 
oldiGT states. When Montana's 
farms shall have become divided 
and sub-divided, permitting of 
true intensified and diversified 
farming, the foregoing outline of 
results will be proven to have 
done faint justice to real possibili- 
ties. 



T 



^ 



MARKETS 

HE statement has been made that the Montana market is the best 
in the world. Considering the ©asy access of the farming com- 
munities to the cities and the consequent cheap haul, the many 
advantages set forth below will prove the truthfulness of the 
statement. 

The market for Western Montana hay comprises not only the 
cities and towns within that section, but the entire Western half 
of the state, the Coeur d'Alene country, and even the Pacific 
ccast cities. The latter send to this section for hay because of the superior 
quality of the local product. Olover hay rarely if ever goes below $8.00 per 
ton, and timothy never below $10.00 per ton on the cars. During the years 
of short crops in adjoining states these prices are ofttimes much higher. 
Butte, Helena, and Anaiconda are the principal markets, lin addition to Kalis- 
pell and 'Missoula, through which Western Montana products usually pass. 

O'ats enjoy a market similar to hay. Prices are seldom lower than 
$1.00 per hundred pounds. The present price being $1.50 per hundred. 
The flouring mill in iMissoula comsumes all the wheat grown in Miissoula and 
Ravalli counties, while the mills in Kalispell do likewise in Flathead county. 
There is a ready market for soft wheat in all sections of the state, as same 
is used for feeding purposes. Prices for soft wheat are usually from ten to 
twenty cents per Ihundlred less than for hard. 

Notwithstanding, Western Montana is a fruit growing section, and, 
where apples grow abundantly, there are nearly 1000 cars annually shipped 
into the sitate. One can readily appreciate what the local market for this 
fruit is. The late varieties rarely go below $1.00 per 50 pound box, and 
strictly first class fruit ofttimes reaches $1.50 per box. Chicago is always 
in the market for Western Montana apples and offers fancy prices. Crab 
apples sell at from $1.00 to $1.50 per 50 pound box. 

Small fruits have all of Montania for a market and are hopelessly short 
in supplying the demand. 

Potatoes never go below 50 cents per hundred, and in fact rarely touch 
that price. At digging time last season/ they were worth $1.00 per hundred 
and are at present worth $1.50. Montana potatoes are of a superior quality 
and are eagerly sought by buyers from Chicago and other eastern cities. 
Other vegetables command prices in keeping with other farm products. 

Three year old range beef steers usually briing about $45.00 per head. 
Milch cows are worth from $30.00 to $50.00 per head. Mutton sheep are 
worth from $3.50 to $5.00 per head. 

Hogs are usually worth from 4^^ to 6 cents per pound), proportionately 
higher if dressed. Chickens sell at prices varying from 10 to 15 cents per 
pound, turkeys from 20 to 25 cents per pound, geese from $1.50 to $2.00 each. 

Although Montana is an almost ideal dairy country, but a small fraction 



88 LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 

of the butter used in the state is made here. There is always a ready 
market for all the butter that can be produced. Some dairymen of the sur- 
roiundling valleys have yearly contracts with the city merchants for all of 
their product at 30 cents per pound. Eiggs are rarely worth less than 20 
cents per dozen, and during the winter and spring months: are worth 50 and 
GO cents per dozen. 

Great as Montana is in her production of farm and orchard crops, she 
is compelled to purchase from other states large quantities of all classes of 
farm produce. Year after year we have been sending to the east and west, 
millions of dollars for supplies that should be grown at our own doors. 
The secticns from which these large impcrtaticns are received enjoy no 




READY FOR MARKRT 



particular advantage over our own country in point of soil or climate. 
Indeed it is questionable whether they do enjoy one half the advantages 
that are found in our own land. We pay the producer's price in some distant 
state, pay a high freight rate to have the produce shlipped us, then a profit 
to the wholesaler, and retailer before it finally reaches the comsuimer, still 
practically every pound of agricultural products that we import could be 
profitably raised at home. The facts are that Montanans have been too 
busy with their great mines and herds of cattle and sheep to give thought 
to the profits of producing at home the millions upon millions of doHlars 
worth of supplies that are annually imported. 

A careful examiniation of all importations of agricultural products in 
the state for one year give® us the following: 

Onions 1,475,600 pounds; cabbage 1,645,000; potatoes 10,374,387; mixed 



MARKETS 89 

vegetables- 2,997,801; celery 174,871; asparagus 119, G78; green beans, 112,03G 
green peias 113,113; green corn 150,774; tomatoes 4G3,CG0; cucumbers 42,395 
lettuce 30,393; spinach 15,849; rhubarb 42,085; squash 4,276; carrots 4,715 
beets 2,670; horse radish 4,430; turnips 13.276; dried peas 24,024; dried 
beans 1,189,654; clover seed 106,114; flax seed 0,060; millet seed 25,010; 
alfalfa seed 83,446; barley 145,200; oats 332,240; wheat 18,239,150; malt 
1,269,540; mixed pickles 1,429,878; ham 1,222,021; bacon 3,617,177; cured 
meats 552,467; fresh pork 2,597,577, fresh meats 3,139,421; condensed milk 
889,985; butter 4,350,956; oleomargarine 700,065; cheese 751,356; eggs (in 
dozens) 4,056,360; poultry 3,024,837; lard 1,888,620; or a total of 75,569,997 
pounds, valued at more than $6,500,000. 

Of fruits we imported, apples, 311,127 boxes; pears 38,251; apricots and 
peaches 139,268; plums and prunes 77,647; cherries 19,568; quinces 736; 
oranges 55,666; lemons 27,932; grapes 66,416; berries 28,563; or a total of 
38,518,450 pounds, valued at over $3,000,000. 

Now if we eliminiate from the foregoing table all the fruits, vegetables, 
and other farm products that for any reason we cannot grow, there still 
remains a very large imiportation, a great gulf as it were between our pro- 
duction and the demand remaining to be filled. Take the 5,050,956 pounds 
of butter and oleomargarine, the 4,056,360 dozens of eggs, 3,024,837 pounds 
of poultry, the 751,366 pounds of cheese — and we wiill rest at that — ^and 
imagine the wonderful opportunities which are offered to the wise and 
energetic dairy, and poultryman. 

That Western Montana is especially adapted for dairying and poultry 
raising is a well known fact. Professor Thomas Shaw, noi greater authority 
than whom lives in the United States', upon- the dairy question, says "no por- 
tion of the United States offers to the dairyman such possibilities as does 
Western Montana." 

Here indeed is such a field for the succesisful operation of dairies as is 
never even dreamt of by the eastern dairyman, — water, land, grasses and 
markets such as are not found the world over. 

What has been said of the possible opportunities of the dairy business 
is also true of gardening, fruit raising, and general farming. It would be 
useless to take up and dwell upon the advantages offered in the varied lines 
of farming. 

The reader can see at a glance that, with availaible land capable of the 
highest state of cultivation and production and with a demand as shown 
by the table presented, the mairket for alll classes of farm produce is here 
at our very doors, and the prices for these products as elsewhere enumer- 
ated, justify the claim that nowhere in this' great land of ours can be found 
a section of country offering to- the husbandman such rare opportunities for 
the successful operation! of his particular calling. 



MINES AND MINING 



ROM the advent of the miner and prospector, and the first discovery 
of placer gold in 1862, Montana has led all the states in gold, 
silver, and copper production. At present the total value of its 
base and precious metal output exceeds that of any other state. 
From 1881 to 1901, the value of the state's metallic production 
(figuring silver at its coinage value) was as follows: 

Gold _ _. ._ - - $ 77,139,739 

Silver ; .- 350,796,364 

Copper 361,110,718 

Lead 12,734,356 



801,781,177 
Gold product estimated from 1862 to 1881 200,000,000 



Total $1,001,781,177 

The iState of Montana has added $50,276,355 to the value of the visible 
supply of precious metals produced in the Unitedi States during the calendiar 
year 1903. The quantity of each metal produced and the value thereof was 
as shown in the table below, the gold and silver being computed at the coin- 
ing rate for each and the copper and lead at the year's average price: 

Description Quantity Value 

Go'ld, fine ounces 2"22,066.236 $ 4,590,516.31 

Silver, fine ounces, (coinage rate) 13,224,004.22 17,097,702.43 

Copper, fine pounds at $13,235 per cwt. 213,076,628. 28,200,691.72 

Lead, fine pounds at $4,237 per cwt. 9,144,313. 387,444.54 



Total $50,276,355.00 

Nearly every county in the state contributes toward this immense pro- 
duction. 

Of the total output of the state Butte has produced $500,000,000. At the 
present time her mines are producing nearly one-half of the copper product 
of the United States. On these figuresi, as well as upon present day opera- 
tions is Butte's claim as the "'greatest mining camp on earth" based. 
Within a radius of three miles from the heart of the city, principally along 
a "hog back" hill of irreguilar O'Utline, is produced about fifty per cent of all 
the copper mined ini tihe United States. 

While the basic mineral of the Butte mines is copper, the ores mined 
carry sufficient gold and silver as a by-product to nearly, if not quite, pay 
all expenses of mining. Butte's annual product amounts to from $45,000,000 
to $55,000,000. Some 15,000 men are employed in the mines and smelters 
at an average wage of from $3.00 to $5.00 per day. The mines have 
attained depths of from 1,500 to 2,300 and 2,400 feet. There are fully fifty 
mines, many worth millions of dollars, operated along this "hill." There is 



MINES AND MINING 



93 



not a square inch of ground that is not included in some mining title. 
Every mine has its own system of shafts and drifts, all adhering to the 
same system, however, in regard to the various levels. A level or tunnel 
is run with every hundred feet of depth, which follows the ore vein up to 
the side limits of the property. As a like system has been observed in the 
adjoining mine, it is possible to pass from one mine to another at every 
level whether the fifth level, five hundred feet down, or the twentieth level, 
2,000 feet down. Miners, therefore, are always immune from fires, which, 
however, rarely occur below ground, no gasses being present in the copper 
mines. Except where solid granite rock is encountered, timbers are used to 
brace all shafts and drifts. These timbers are immense posts and beamiS 
and, though the entire hill is practically honeycombed, so strongly timbered 
is it that nothing short of an earthquake could possibly cause its collapse. 




IVriNING 



Between the various levels, stoping operations are conducted. This is done 
by mining from the top of a level, and the building of recurring floors, until 
the level above is reached. In this way the entire ore vein is worked out, 
the pay ore hoisted to the surface and the waste dirt and rock thrown back 
to aid the timbers in supporting their weights. These timbers are secured 
in the lumber camps of Western Montana. 

Scores of smaller mining camps are scattered throughout the entire 
state, which have all added and are now adding their quota to Montana's 
mineral wealth. These are in the main gold and silver producers, with 
copper and lead as by-products. Following the depreciation of silver some 
years ago many of the richest silver mines were closed down. A favorable 



MlNElS AND MINING 95 

advance in the price of this precious metal would create a large production, 
increasing materially, the total value of the state's output. 

While the overwhelming bulk of copper comes from Silver Bow county, 
in which is located the City of Butte, this metal also appears as a by-product 
in the mining operations in a number of other counties. 

Granite county, in which is located the Philipsburg district, leads in 
mining production, outside of Silver Bow county, with an aggregate yield 
of from $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 annually. 

Lewis and Clarke county, in which Helena is located, reports about 
$1,500,000 annually, the Drumlummion at Marysville being the largest pro- 
ducer in that section. 

Cascade county mines between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 annually, a 
large portion of the yield coming from Neihart. 

Plathead county, too, has proven that itsi hills are all heavily minera- 
lized and timie alone is required to uncover many rich properties. A number 
of these have already been brought to the shipping stage, while in others 
good :bodies of ore are being uncovered. That section in which is located 
the Copper Cable mine, andi Snowishoe near the headwaters of Libby creek, 
has already proven itself to be especially rich in mineral deposits, a number 
of mines are shipping ore, while others are preparing to erect reduction 
plants to treat the ores. 

Lib'by creek placers have yielded up large amounts of gold, and it is 
well established that further prospecting alone is required to develop a 
gratifying number of quartz and placer mines in other portions of this rich 
country. 

The richest placer fields in Western Montana are found along Three 
Mile and 'Hughes creeks in Ravalli county, and Cedar, Nine Mile and Deer 
creeks in Missoula county. Operations in some of these districts have been 
uniformly successful for years. 

The Iron Mountain mjine, located at Iron Mountain, in Missoula county, 
was one of the first discoveries in Western Montana and up to the time of 
suspension of operations, paid more than half a million dollars in dividends. 

The law piassed by the legislature providing for more than one opening 
for deep mines caused the suspension of the Iron Mlountain mine after it 
had attained a depth of 1700 feet until such time as the law could be com- 
plied with. In cousequence the mine has been closed for some time. It is 
understood, that plans are now being matured for driving a tunnel nearly a 
mile and a quarter long to connect with the sihaft of this mine. This will 
again place the Iron Mountain in the column of producing and dividend pay- 
ing mines. 

A short distance from the Iron Mountain mine in practically the same 
mining belt is the Amador group of mines which have already been brought 
to a high state of development. Ores of splendid values have been encount- 
ered in large quantities in the mines which go to make up this group and no 
money is being spared to bring the properties to a producing basis. A con- 
centrating plant of large capacity has already been provided for and an 
electric line between the mines and the city of Amador, one of the stations 



MINES AND MINING 97 

on the Coeur d'Alene branch of the Northern Pacific, will probably be built 
the coming season. Unless all signs fail this group will develop into one of 
the big properties in the state. 

Of all promising new fields in the state that section known as the Coeur 
d'Alenes, lying along the western border of the state near the Idaho line is 
perhaps the most promiising. On the Idaho side, in the neighborhood of 
Wallace land but a few miles distant, are some of the largest silver and lead 
mines in the world, and it is believed that the same veins will be uncovered 
on the iMontana side. New discoveries made there, however, are not suffici- 
ently developed to thorougihly characterize the entire district. Every indi- 
cation points to large mineral wealth with greater depth and this will doubt- 
less be attained during the coming summer. 

Another promising section is the Clinton district, contiguous to 
Misisoulia, which has a geological formation almost an exact duplicate of 
the Butte "'hill." and has been highly spoken of by the experts from the 
latter city who have thoroughly investigated it. 

It is believed that, with the opening of the Flathead reservation, many 
important mining discoveries will be made in that direction. The 
Indians have always oppoised any proispecting of their lands and little or 
nothing is known concerning the many bright surface indications. 

Extensive coal fields are found: in the state containing bituminous and 
coking coals of high value. There are over $5,000,000 invested in coal mines 
in Montana and the annual product amounts to 1,500,000 tons of coal with a 
considerable output of coke. 



LIVE STOCK 



«^ 



OR MORE than 25 years last past, Montana has been a great live 

F stock growing country. Its great stretches of prairie and valley 

lands, M^ith their abundant and nutritious grasses, have furnished 
range for the countless thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep, 
that have grazed upon them. The light fall of snow during the 
winter season has made it possible for these animals to feed upon 
the ranges for twelve months during the year. The compara- 
tively small amount of labor necessary for the care of these great 
herds, and the grazing upon free ranges, until mature for market, has made 
this industry one of the most profitable in the state. It has made thousands 
of men, and companies, wealthy. This is particularly true of those engaged 
in the sheep business. It is said that the annual wool clip practically pays 
for all expenses connected with the handling of sheep, leaving the increase 
of the flocks net profit to their owners. 

However, of recent years it has been evident that the days of great 
herds are rapidly drawing to a close. The westward movement of immigra- 
tion and the settlement upon the lands which have heretofore been used as 
ranges, have curtailed the possibility of the great herds. These great tracts 
of unfenced lands, unoccupied, save for the stock upon them, are rapidly 
passing from the government to the homesteader in IGO acre lots. 

Settlers in selecting lands upon which to make their homes invariably 
seek the best bottom and most fertile tracts with streams running through 
them. The fencing of these claims, slowly but surely, year by year, cur- 
tails the range, and lessens as well, the water supply to which the stock 
formerly had access. 

With the reclamation of the arid lands and the development of irriga- 
tion, under the national irrigation act, and the consequent settlement of 
these lands, a ,still further reduction of these public ranges must follow. 

This, in addition to the large increase of recent years in the number of 
cattle and sheep, and their consequent crowding upon the heretofore large 
and unoccupied ranges, points with unerring certainty to the day when these 
great herds will have passed away. This will be well. Heretofore 20 acres 
of range were considered essential for each steer or horse to graze upon. 
The future will witness, with the cultivation of those very same lands many 
times that number upon each 20 acres. 

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the idea that the present need of 
our State is a change from extensive to intensive methods. "It is apparent 
that the production of live stock for meat purposes is changing its methods. 
Pasturage on the ranges figures less and less, and sitall feeding more and 
more in the preparation of cattle for the market. * * * * 

As ranges are narrowed and put to other uses, our beef will have to be pro- 

LifC. 



LIVE STOCK 101 

(luced within narrower limits. * * * * Other conditions 

will combine to increase the number ot cattle fed on small farms." 

These statements are being verified throughout the State today. The 
great herds of the past will henceforth be rapidly subdivided. The future 
will witness the cattle which have heretofore wintered upon the ranges, 
cared for and fed within enclosures during the winter months. The small 
rancher with his 20, 50 or 100 head will replace these old conditions. 

There will always be a large amount of open public range, lands that 
are unfit for cultivation, where the husbandman will be able for 8 or 9 
months of each year to pasture, free of cost, his limited herd. During the 
winter months, however, it will be necessary for him to gather his stock and 
place them within his enclosures and feed and care for them. This will not 
be without its advantages. The time is now ripe in this state for the feed- 
ing of cattle for the markets. In the past all of Montana cattle have been 
fattened upon the ranges, but extensive experiments of late years have 
demonstrated beyond a doubt, that the feeding of cattle, preparatory to their 
shipment to market is a most profitable investment. 

The grazing sections of Western Montana are not found in such large 
tracts as is the case in the eastern part of the State. Generally they are con- 
fined to the higher bench lands, and may be found available to a greater or 
less extent to the adjacent farms. These conditions will not permit of large 
herds as was the case in years gone by, but will furnish abundant pasturage 
during the spring, summer and fall seasons for the ordinary sized herd of 
the farmer. 

The assessed valuation of live stock in Montana is about $30,000,000, 
divided as follows: tSheep, $9,000,000; cattle $15,000,000; and horses, $6,000.- 
000. The assessment roll shows less than $100,000 worth of hogs in the 
entire State. 

At present there is an urgent demand for the breeding of thorough-bred 
horses and cattle. Many cattlemen have neglected to improve the blood 
of their herds on account of the very high prices they have been compelled 
to pay to import this class of stock from the distant eastern states. There 
is a splendid opening for a number of up to date live stock breeders in 
Western Montana. 



LUMBER 



^ 



RA'CTICALLY all of Montana's forests lie on the west side of the 

Pmain range of the Rocky Mountains, and in the three counties of 
Missoula, Ravalli, and Flathead. Lumbering is therefore a very 

important industry in Western Montana. Her mills supply the 

entire state, and their surplus product is shipped to the prairie 

states of the Mississippi valley. 

There are some 150 mills in operation in the state, among 

the number being several large and well equipped plants 
These mills furnish employment for several thousand men at good wages, 
and besides furnish a splendid market for the product of the neighboring 
farms and orchards. 

The forests of this state are largely of yellow pine, red fir, tamarack, 
and spruce, with white pine, cedar and cottonwood in some sections. No 
merchantable hard wood is found in (Montana. It is almost impossible to 
give any adequate conception of the immense forests in this! section of 
Montana. The Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry estimates thai 
there is upon government reserves and state lands 15,886,800,000 feet of saw 
timber. This does not include timber lands owned by private individuals 
or corporations of which there are a large amount in this state. From 
these figures it will be seen that these forests will furnish an almost inex- 
haustible supply of lumber for many future generations. 

Although there are some 150 mills scattered through the timber sections 
of Western Montana, the lumbering industry may be said to be in its infancy. 
There is a very large home demand. The mines of the state require 
immense quantities of timber in their underground workings. It has been 
said that there has been more timber used underground in the Anaconda 
mine than has been used in building the entire city of Butte — a city of some 
75,000 people. 

Mining timbers, which include 8xl0s and plank principally, are generally 
worth at the mills from $8.00 to $10.00 per thousand feet. Common building 
lumber dressed one side $12.50 per thousand, uppers $25.00 to $40.00 per 
thousand. Lath $3.00 and cedar shingles $2.50 to $3.00 per thousand. 

Much of the valuable timber land is still open to location under the 
timber and stone act. This class of investment is undoubtedly among the 
safest and is most certain of returning splendid profits. Much patented tim- 
ber land lying convenient to railroads or log streams may be purchased at a 
price varying from fifty cents to one dollar and fifty cents per 1,000 feet of 
standing timber. 



104 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 




I,llMBERIN(^. 



^ 1 




ONK OF CIvARK'vS MIIJ.vS AT I.OTHROP 



HUNTING AND FISHING 



S' 



ORTY years ago in that vast expanse of country lying between the 

F Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains, and from the far north 

in British Columbia to the banks of the Rio Granae, roamed count- 
less thousands of buffalo. These majestic animals, whose num- 
ber exceeded that of any large game the world has ever known, 
supplied the food for the tribes of Indians who inhabited this 
almost unknown wilderness. Their skins furnished clothing for 
the Indians and covers for their lodges. In addition to the buf- 
falo were great droves of elk, deer, and antelope. This great game preserve 
as it were, attracted hunters from all parts of the world. 

With the close of the civil war and the building of the great transcon- 
tinental railroads, which made it possible for people to easily come to these 
hunting grounds, hunters from all over our own country, as well as foreign 
lands, visited these remote parts for the purpose of hunting the buffalo. It 
was the sportman's paradise. 

The great demand for buffalo robes made hunting not only a sport but 
a lucrative employment. UndOx^ these conditions the slaughter of these 
vast herds commenced, and it was only a few years until their numbers 
became very much diminished, and with the close of 1883 there was scarcely 
a herd of wild buffalo to be found where twenty years before immense 
herds had lived and flourished. 

It has been claimed in extenuation of the terrible slaughter and exter- 
mination of the buffalo that it was the only means of subjugating the Indian 
tribes inhabiting that vast territory west of the Missouri. True it is that 
the wave of ever advancing civilization has swept before it on its westward 
march every obstacle that impeded its course. That the Indian must be 
subdued was imminent from the nature of things, but that the extermination 
of the buffalo must precede this, is not so clear. While conceding that 
these great herds furnished the principal subsistance of the warring Indian 
tribes, and made it possible for them to longer continue their conflict with 
the inevitable — ^^the peopling of the West — it seemsi equally true that the 
slaughter of this great game was largely through the avarice of the skin 
hunter. 

The destruction of these great game herds is a matter of deep regret. 
Today there is probably not exceeding 1500 head of buffalo in existence 
The largest herd in the world, numbering about 300 head, is on. the Flathead 
Reservation, and is owned by a mixed blood resident and the Northern Live 
Stock Company of Missoula. 

Nor were the buffalo alone to suffer; the relentless hunter slaughtered 
also the elk, the antelope, and the deer. However, the latter were not so 
easily hunted as the buffalo, they were fleet of foot, and sought refuge in 



106 



LAND OF THE FLATHEAjDS 




WII^D GROUSE 



the timbered mountains 
far beyond where it 
was possible for the 
hunter to follow them. 
Thus while the buffalo 
have entirely disap- 
peared from their for- 
mer ranges, the elk, 
the deer and the ante- 
lope are still found, 
although in lesser num- 
bers. 

The mountains are 
the safe retreat of all 
large game. Here only 
the most persevering- 
hunter follows them 

and succeeds. It is possible even at this time to find large numbers of deer, 
some elk and a few scattered moose in the western part of Montana. In 
fact the deer are still quite plentiful. All this game is now, and has for 
several years past been protected by the state laws, the result being that 
game is not diminishing as heretofore, and it is believed that even some 
kinds of game are now increasing. That there will always be a supply in 

Montana is certain. The great 
mountain chains furnish a 
retreat for game to which only 
the hardiest of hunters can fol- 
low. 

In those vast solitudes are 
large numbers of the white 
mountain goat, the sheep and 
the bear. Bear are plentiful in 
nearly all timbered sections of 
the state, particularly so in the 
western part. Of these there 
are a number of varieties; the 
most common being the black, 
the brown, and the grizzly. 
The former is of moderate size 
and quite easily killed. He sel- 
dom shows fight when hunted 
and is rarely dangerous to the 
pursuer. The brown bear is 
more ferocious in his nature 
and often will fight if cornered. 
but of all the wild beasts of the 
Rocky Mountains, the grizzly is 




MORNING MEAI^ 



HUNTING AND FISHING 



107 



the one to be feared, and his hunting is often attended with considerable 
danger to the hunter. Much care is necessary in shooting him as a wounded 
grizzly is the most ferocious and vicious of animals, his immense size, 
strength, and power of endurance making it very hard to kill him with any 
single shot. Many instances are on record of his having turned on his 
adversary, frightfully wounding and frequently killing him.. 

The mountain lion is another savage and ferocious animal that lives 
in the deep forests and mountain fastnesses. He is a member of the cat 
family and of large size, frequently measuring seven or eight feet from tip 
to tip. Much care must be exercised in 
hunting these animals. When wounded 
they are dangerous antagonists. They 
are fleet of foot and noiseless in their 
movements. They live entirely upon 
game and other animals which they hunt 
with much dexterity. Often they lie in 
ambush for their victims, while at other 
times they climb trees from which they 
spring upon their prey. These animals 
are a serious menace to game, especially 
young deer and elk. It is believed that 
they annually destroy more game than 
hunters do. 

The hunting of white mountain goats 
is perhaps the hardest and most fatigu- 
ing of the hunting of any of the wild 
animals. Their place of habitation is 
high in the cliffs of the most precipitous 
mountains. Here, located hundreds and 
even thousands of feet above the timber 
line, it is very easy for them to watch 
the surrounding mountains and the 
approach of any hunter. They are con- 
siderably larger than any ordinary goat, 
snow^ white and most beautiful animals. 
To secure this game is well worth the 
efforts of the most enthusiastic and experienced hunter. 

Timber wolves, lynx, bobcats and coyotes are numerous. The timber 
wolves and coyotes, especially ihe former, are destructive to live stock and 
the State pays a bounty for their destruction. 

Small game, such as ducks, geese, swan, chickens, fool hens, grouse and 
sage hens are plentiful in various parts of the State. 

Ducks and geese, during the spring and fall months, are especially 
plentiful and offer to the sportsman splendid shooting. 

Trout fishing is a favorite pastime in Montana. There is scarcely a 
stream in the State, no matter how small, where they are not found. They 
also abound in the large rivers and lakes. The citizens generally take a 




108 



LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 



deep interest in keeping the streams stocked, and fry from the Government 
hatchery at Bozeman are yearly added. There are many varieties of these 
splendid little fish. The most common being the brook, rainbow, and salmon 







trout. The latter are found in the larger streams and lakes. The char, 
another species of trout is common in the larger streams in Western Mon- 
tana. They attain a large size, frequently weighing 25 and 30 pounds. 




The brook trout are the most common. They are found in every con- 
ceivable little lake or stream. It seems most remarkable, but they are often 
found in lakes high up in the mountains, lakes apparently fed only by the 



HUNTING AND FISHING 109 

mountain snow and whose outlets pour over ledges so precipitous as to 
seem to absolutely prohibit the ascent of fish at all. 

To those who love hunting, fishing, and the outdoor life of camping, 
Montana offers the most delightful opportunities. Here the hunter with 
his camping outfit may go to the remote mountains and live for a few weeks 
that careless, happy life of freedom from the ordinary cares of life, amid 
the wild surroundings of nature. With rod and gun, thousands annually 
during the dry months of August and September go up into the mountains 
with their families and friends and spend a few weeks camping, hunting, 
and fishing. On the banks of many streams or by the side of the beautiful 
lakes the campers pitch their tents. Here during these pleasant months 
with prime fishing, and good shooting, they pass a few happy weeks. 

And what sport it is to live under the great trees of a dense forest, cook 
the wild game, and fry the bacon and fish over the camp fire. With the 




TANNING 

coming of night a great log fire is kindled. Around this the tired hunters 
and campers gather and rehearse the incidents of the day, tell stories, play 
games, and sing songs to the accompaniment of the ban.io or guitar. What 
a scene of beauty it is with the great flames casting their curious and wierd 
shadows against the dark overhanging forest. The call of a night bird or 
the dismal cry of a wild animal hunting his food reminds the campers that 
they are far from civilization, and in the home of wild beasts. As the 
embers burn low, one by one, tired and sleepy, the campers retire to their 
beds of pine boughs and are soon lulled to sleep by the dashing waters of a 
nearby stream or the splashing waves of a mountain lake. Here they enjoy 
sound, healthful, and refreshing sleep. The morning comes and after a 



110 



LAND OF TIHE FLATHBADS 



hurried breakfast, the party are off for another day's sport, fishing for trout, 
hunting the pheasant or mountain grouse, or perhaps with rifle, following 
the deer, or lying in wait for Bruin. Thus the days pass only too quickly. 
Such pleasures as these are only to be enjoyed in a wild and mountainous 
country. 




NKAR FI.ATHEAD I.AKR 



Here in Montana nothing seems to be lacking for ones happiness that 
Nature can supply. Many go from the towns and cities on such camping 
trips, tired, worn out, and ill. At the close of a month they return to take 
up another year's burdens, refreshed, well, and strong. 



IRRIGATION 



ONTANA as a whole is an arid state. There is, however, much land 

Mthat will produce good crops without irrigation. Such lands are 
usually either low lands, such as river and creek bottoms which 

are sub-irrigated, or lands lying contiguous to mountain chains 

which so influence and disturb the atmospheric conditions as to 

cause a sufficient precipitation. 

Nearly 40 per cent, of the lands under cultivation in the State 

are producing without the aid of irrigation. It is however the aim 
of Montana farmers to irrigate such lands where the contour of the country 
will permit the construction of ditches. The value of irrigation to the lands 
in the way of fertilizing is scarcely less than its beneficial effect upon their 
productiveness. Then again it makes crop failure an impossibility. Mon- 
tanans know no such thing as failure of crops. With irrigation, the farmer 
when his crops need water simply opens the headgates to his ditches and 
turns the water into the latterals, thus conducting the life giving stream 
upon the thirsty soil. This, in the dryest parts of the State, is| usually 
required three times during the season; in other sections twice, while in still 
other localities one irrigation only is required. The amount of rainfall to 
an extent governs this, wet seasons requiring less irrigation. 

While vast areas of lands have already been placed under irrigation by 
individual and co-operative enterprise, there still remain millions of fertile 
acres to be watered. Generally speaking the irrigation enterprises of the 
future will require large capital and Governmental aid. 

The act, providing for the reclamation of arid lands in various western 
states, generally known as the National Irrigation Law, became such on June 
19, 1902. Since that time a vast amount of preparatory work has been 
accomplished, much necessary data concerning water supply has been 
secured and the possibilities of reclamation considered. The law is very 
far-reaching and has many important ramifications. 

Much must be taken into account besides land and water. It is not 
sufficient merely to build storage works and turn the water into the stream. 
The land must actually be reclaimed and the money returned to the fund to 
be used over and over again in similar enterprises. The land must be sub- 
divided into areas of sufficient size to support a family. The secretary of 
the Interior may fix the unit as low as 40 acres, and it must not exceed IGO. 
The latter figures are the maximum amount of water rights which may be 
sold to land in private ownership. In all cases the beneficiary of national 
irrigation must be an actual accupant of the soil, living on the land, or in its 
immediate vicinity. 

The central idea of the new policy is to assist real home-makers in get- 
ting a foothold upon the land. The Government does not pretend to aid 



IRRIGATION 113 

speculators, but only to assist actual settlers in getting the amount of irri- 
gated land reasonably necessary to the support of their families. 

The new law aims not only at the storage of water, but at the intense 
cultivation of the soil by a multitude of land owners. If only our own State 
were to be considered, a thorough study of its resources would be a great 
task; but when thirteen states and three territories must be examined, and 
selections made which will stand the test of future judgment, the burden 
becomes one of enormous proportions. Sometimes the projects which have 
been generally regarded as the most attractive are found to have fatal 
defects, and have been consequently abandoned with resulting disappoint- 
ment to a great many people. 

In each of the thirteen states and three territories named in the law, 
one leading project has been selected with a view to early construction of 
the works, provided all of the conditions are found to be favorable. For 
example, in Arizona, the great storage dam on Salt River, for holding the 




IRRIG.\TION DITCH 

flood waters until they can be used, has been begun. In California the 
Secretary of the Interior has authorized works which will reclaim the lands 
in the vicinity of Yuma by means of a dam across the lower Colorado river, 
raising water so that it can be used on the adjacent lowlands. In Colorado, 
plans are nearly completed for the construction of a great tunnel from Gun- 
nison river to the dry Uncompahgre valley. In Idaho, a great dam across 
the Snake river has been planned, and contracts will be let for construction 
at an early date. In Nevada, work has been begun on dams and canals to 
combine the flood waters of the Truckee and Carson rivers. In short, in 
each state and territory some project of national importance is in process 
of planning and construction. 

All of these works are for the purpose of regulating or storing flood 
waters, or lifting out of the channels the waters which are too low to be 



114 LAND OP THE PLATHEADS 

cliverLecl by gravity. By such great works the intermittent streams are 
rendered perennial, and the occasional floods are restrained until the waters 
can be put to beneficial use. 

The money to build these great works comes not from direct taxation 
nor appropriation, but from the accumulated sumsi paid for the public lands 
which are being disposed of in these states and territories. Day by day the 
settlers or investors are paying to the Government small sums to obtain a 
complete title to lands which have been in public ownership. A half to 
nine-tenths of the total area of the Western states and territoriesi still 
belongs to Uncle Sam. He is giving away or disposing of these lands as he 
has been for generations, and the moneys received are credited in the treas- 
ury to the reclamation fund, to be used for the construction of great works 
which will enable a better disposal of the public lands and the creation of a 
vast number of small farms instead of a few large cattle ranches. 

The amounts received have ranged from less than $1,000,000 up to many 
millions each year, depending upon the generail prosperity of the country, 
the activity of the land offices and the interpretation put upon the laws. -In 
round numbers, there was received for the year 1901, $3,000,000; for 1902, 
$4,000,000; for 1903, $8,000,000; for 1904, it is estimated there will be over 
$5,000,000 and possibly as much as $10,000,000. Thus the fund grows and 
is invested in great works, the cost of which is refunded to the treasury in 
annual installments. The arid lands virtually pay for their own reclama- 
tion, and the Government is the gainer by bringing about a permanent and 
prosperous settlement of areas which otherwise would have been condemned 
to perpetual sterility. 

And now, when the law is but two years old, the great national policy is 
in full swing in seven states and one territory, while preliminary examina- 
tions are far advanced in all the rest of the arid region. In Nevada and Ari- 
zona actual construction is proceeding rapidly, and in the former state the 
pioneers of the great army of settlers to the irrigated public domain will 
begin to march not later than 1905. In Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, New 
Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota and North Dakota contracts are about to 
be let. 



WAGES 



e^ 



ABOR in Montana is exceptionally well paid. Wages are generally 

L fixed by the Labor Unions and the accepted rate is the Union's 

scale. For general information the following, fiom the report of 
the Commissioner of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and 
Industry is herewith given: "In the coal mines the contract sys- 
tem prevails and the wages generally run a little lower than in 
quartz mines, $3.00 to $3.25 a day being about the average. In 
the logging camps and saw mills the wages are $40 a month, with 
board, for the lowest; teamsters with one team $45, and with four horses $50. 
In the saw mills wages run from $2 a day up, the setters getting as high as 
$7 a day, most of the employes getting about $2.50 a day. Farm hands 
receive from $20 to $45 a month and sheep herders about $35. Range riders 
and ditch riders get about $40 a month. Among railroad employees there 
is a vast range in the scale of wages, and the earnings gained by overtime 
make the monthly checks seem large. Engineers receive 4 and 4i^ cents a 
mile, 100 miles constituting a day's work; more than that number of miles 
is considered overtime. Firemen receive 2 and 2^^ cents a mile under the 
same conditions. Brakemen and switchmen receive from $35 to $90 a month 
with allowance for overtime. Railroad machinists and shopmen get from 
17 cents an hour to $3.60 a day. Operators get from $45 a month up. Sec- 
tion hands, Chinese, Japanese and Greeks draw from $1.15 to $1.50 a day. 
Wages in the smelters average about $3 a day though there are some posi- 
tions that pay more. Stationary engineers get from $50 a month in heating 
plants to $4 a day. Teamsters with team receive from $4 to $6 a day, and 
common labor from $2 to $3 a day. Clerks where organized generally 
receive $60 a month, low for men, and $40 for women, but there are cases 
where girls only get $10 a month and have to board themselves. Street car 
employees' wages are from 20 to 30 cents an hour. In steam laundries 
wages for female help are from $5 to $15 a week. Males get from $15 to 
$25 per week. Barbers generally work on a guarantee of $15 to $18 a week 
with a percentage after they have done a certain amount of work. Male 
cooks' wages range from $16 a week up, women receiving from $25 to $60 
a month. Waiters get from $20 a month for women to $10 and $15 a week 
for men. In this business it very often happens that skillful workers draw 
much more than the union scale. Iji the building trades the building labor- 
ers generally receive 50 cents or $1.00 a day more than common labor. 
Carpenters get from $3.50 to $4.50 a day; bricklayers, stone-masons and 
plasterers, from $5 to $7 a day; plumbers, $6; painters from 35 cents to 50 
cents an hour. None of these trades work more than nine hours and a great 
many have the eight hour day. Quarrymen receive from $2.50 to $3.50 a 
day; linemen, an average of about $3 a day. Bakers' wages are about $3 a 
day, including Sundays, and brewers get $4 a day for eight hours. In the 



IIG LAND OF THE FLATHEAD S 

bottling works the wages are $3.25 for eight hours. In the flour mills the 
lowest wages are $2.00 a day. Machine typesetters get $4.50 to $5.00 for 
eight hours; tailors, from $18 to $21 a week. The scale of wages for cigar- 
makers runs from $10 to $23 per thousand according to the size and quality 
of the cigar. Office employees and stenographers get from $50 to $150 a 
month. Butchers get from $3 to $4 a day. Dressmakers earn from $6 to $15 
a week, and the employees of the garment factory make about the same. 
There are few men employed at less than $2 a day or its equivalent, in the 
State, and the average general wages are about $2.50. Iron molders have 
$4.50 a day. In brick yards the wages are from $2.50 a day up, skilled labor 
being well paid. Harnessmakers receive $3 a day and candymakers, the 
same. 

There are still a few places where the conditions seem to require long 
hours, as with cooks, who work twelve hours or longer, and in the flour mills 
some of which run day and night with 11-hour day and 13-hour night shift, 
but the majority of employees work less than 10 hours if those employed 
upon the railroads and farms are excepted. There is also a great demand 
for women for general housework at good wages, 20 to 30 dollars a month 
being paid. 

In this connection it should be understood that while wages are high in 
Montana there is not an unlimited demand for labor. The various trades 
and other branches of labor are generally well represented and occasionally 
there are idle men awaiting positions. However, this rarely happens with 
good steady and reliable men. They are rarely without employment. As the 
country develops there will be an additional demand for labor and reliable 
men will usually find positions within a short time. 



LAND AND MINING LAWS 



e^ 



OR THE benefit of persons desiring to secure vacant lands within 
the State of Montana, the following synopsis of laws, with some 
additions, as published by the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and 
Industry, of the State of Montana, are herewith given. 

There are three classes of these lands. Government, State 
and Railroad land. The latter is at this time withdrawn from 
sale, but it is expected that it will be again offered for sale within 
a short time. 

HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT LAND. 

There are four m^ethods by which a tract of land may be secured from 
the United States Government and it should be remembered that in all cases, 
except cne, the business connected with Government lands must be con- 
ducted through a Government land office. The single exception is' where 
the so-called "script" is issued in lieu of land embraced within a forest 
reserve. The other methods prescribed by various acts of Congress are: 

1. Homesteading. 

2. Desert entry, and 

3. The Timber and Stone entry. 

The Government has established seven land offices in Montana where 
application may be made for entries in any of these forms and under all cir- 
cumstances the application must be accompanied by a description of the 
land upon which entry is to be made by range, township, section and sub- 
division. These offices are located at Bozeman, Gallatin Co.; Miles City, 
Custer Co.; Lewistown, Fergus Co.; Helena, Lewis and Clarke Co.; Missoula, 
Missoula Co.; Kalispell, Flathead Co. and at Great Falls, Cascade Co. 

Homestead affidavits can be made before the Clerk of the District Court 
at any county seat, or before any United States Commissioner in the State, 
by which means a journey to the county seat may often be saved. 

HOMESTEADING. 

A homestead may be secured by any person who is the head of a family, 
or who has arrived at the age of 21 years, and is a citizen of the United 
States, or has declared his intention to become such ; and who is not the pro- 
prietor of more than 160 acres of land in any state or territory. Such per- 
son is entitled to one-quarter section (160 acres), or less quantity of unap- 
propriated public land, under the homestead laws. 

The applicant must make affidavit that he is entitled to the privileges of 
the homestead act, and that the entry is made for his exclusive use and bene- 
fit, and for actual settlement and cultivation, and must pay the legal fee and 
that part of the commissions required. Within six monthiS from date of 
entry the settler must take up his residence on the land, reside thereon and 
cultivate the same for five years continuously. At the expiration of this 
period, or within two years thereafter, proof of residence and cultivation 
must be established by four witnesses. The proof of settlement with the 
certificate of the Register of the land office, is forwarded to the General Land 
Office in Washington, from which patent is issued. Final proof can be 
made within five years from date of settlement and must be made within 
seven years. The Government recognizes no sale of a homestead claim. 
After fourteen months from date of entry the law allows the homesteader to 
secure title to the tract, if so desired, by paying for it in cash and making- 
proof of settlement, residence and cultivation for that period. The law 
allows only one homestead privilege to any one person, but under act of 
March 2, 1889, Section 2 provides that in certain cases, when the first home- 
stead was necessarily abandoned, a second filing might be made. An unmar- 



118 LAND OF THE FLATHEAD'S 

ried woman of age can take the benefit of the homestead law. If she marries 
before she has acquired title and continues her residence on her claim she 
can proceed to prove up at the proper time the same as if she had remained 
single, but husband and wife cannot secure separate tracts by maintaining 
separate residences at the same time. All the sons and daughters' of a fam- 
ily are entitled to take up land under the United States land laws. Soldiers 
who served in the army or navy during the war of the rebellion or in the 
Spanish or Philippine war for more than ninety days, can obtain 160 acres 
of any of the public lands by filing (himself or by an attorney), a declaratory 
statement, and within six months thereafter filing his affidavit and applica- 
tion, commencing settlement and cultivation, and continuing the same for 
five years, less the time he served in the army or navy; but such time in no 
case to exceed four years. A soldier's widow has the same privilege. In 
case of his death in the army, or his discharge therefrom on account of 
wounds OT disability incurred in the discharge of duty, the term of his enlist- 
ment is deducted. In case of the death of a soldier, his widow, if unmarried, 
or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children by a 
guardian duly appointed and officially credited at the Department of the 
Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits given to soldiers under the home- 
stead laws. Neither the widow or the heirs are required to live on the land, 
but they must keep up the cultivation and improvemeTits. 

Abandonment or change of residence from a homestead for six months 
or more, at any time, leaves it liable to contest, unless leave of absence has 
been obtained. Land unfit for cultivation or grazing purposes, or only val- 
uable for its timber or stone, is not subject to homestead entry. Otherwise, 
as a rule, all public land not mineral may be so entered. Soldiers, or if dead, 
their widows or children, have the privilege, not accorded to any other per- 
sons of filing on a homestead either in person or through an agent. 

Homestead entries can be made either at the land office or before the 
Clerk or Judge of a court, or a United States Ciommissioner of the county in 
which the land is located. The right to a tract of public land as a homestead 
can be secured by settlement which will hold it for ninety days, when, or 
during which time, entry must be made. 

After fourteen months from the date of settlement the homestead claim- 
ant, if he has resided upon, improved and cultivated his claim during the last 
preceding eight months, can make commutation proof and pay for the land 
at the rate of $1.25 an acre if not wathin the limits of a railroad grant, or 
$2.50 an acre if within such limits. 

As stated above there are certain cases where it is possible that a second 
homestead entry may be made by the same person under a recent act of 
Congresis. This act allows any person who has heretofore made a homestead 
entry, and was unable to perfect the same on account of some unavoidable 
complication of business or personal affairs, or on account of an honest mis- 
take as to the character of the land, to make a second entry providing it is 
shown to the satisfaction of the Oommisisioner of the Greneral Land Office 
that a bona fide effort was made to comply with the homestead law and that 
the entry was not relinquished nor the claim abandoned for a consideration. 

The entryman is required to make a formal application for a specified 
piece of land, on the regular homestead blanks, modified to show that the 
entry is made under the act of April 28, 1904, and must furnish a description 
of the former entry by section, township and range, or the number of the 
entry, and the land offic where the filing was made. He must also furnish an 
affidavit, corroborated by one or more disinterested witnesses, setting forth 
in full the complications in business or personal affairs that prevented the 
perfecting of title to the land covered; by the first entry or. where the failure 
to perfect title was caused by a mistake as to the character of th^ land en- 
tered, the manner in which such mistake occurred and the sT^ec'.fic reasons 
that render the land worthless for agricultural purposes must be fully set 
forth. The affidavit must also show whether the applicant ever resided 
upon, improved or cultivated the land embraced in his former entrv and if 
so, to what extent and that the claim was not abandoned or the entry relin- 
quished for a valuable consideration. 

The act also provides for a second entry of land sufficient to make a 
full claim of 160 acres where the first entry was for a less number of acres 



LAND AND MINING LAWS 119 

than a quarter section. It applies to^ entries made subsequent to the date of 
the act, April 28, 1904, as well as to those made before that time. The land 
to be siecured by the second entry must be contiguous to that embraced by 
the first entry and no residence uDon the new land is required, final proof of 
residence and 'Cultivation of the first entry being held to be sufficient; but 
no party shall have the benefit of this act who does not at the date of aDpli- 
cation own and occupy the land covered hv the original entry, and fraud or 
illegality in the original entry shall operate to cancel the subsequent entry. 
Commutation is also prohibited. 

Applicants for additional entries under this' section will be required to 
produce evidence that they own and occupv the land embraced in their origi- 
nal entries which must be properly described by legal sub-division as well 
ais by reference to the number and date of ori2:inal entrv. This evidence 
must consist of their own affidavit, corroborated bv the affidavits of one or 
more disinterested witnesises. executed before an officer authorized to admin- 
ister oaths in such cases. In addition to this the kroner homestead apnlica- 
tion and affidavit must be filed in the land office showina- the act under 
which the anplication is made. It should be rememberf^d that this rt-^rt of 
the aet anplies onlv in cases where the original hom<^stead entry was for a 
tract of less than 160 acres. Pud is only available for the purposes of acquir- 
ing a full quarter section under the Homestead law. 

The laws regarding the making of final proofs before obtaining title from 
the Government are very strict, as the instructions given the local land 
offices by the General Land Commissioner will show. He savs: 

1. You will carefully observe the manner and form governing the mak- 
ing of final proofs and ref^uire applicants to proceed strictly in accordance 
therewith. 

2. Where, in the soibmission of final proof, it is shown otherwise than 
by special agent's report that such final proof is fraudulent or illegal, you 
will reject the same and give due notice thereof in the usual manner. 

3. Where you believe the proof to be fraudulent or not made in good 
faith and' in violation of the law, you will suspend the proof and report the 
case to the special agent of your district, if there be one, with a statement 
of all material facts, including the names and addresses of claimants and of 
witnesses and also your reason for the suspicion. Thereafter you will regu- 
larly transmit the proof to this office with a report of the facts in the case. 

4. With respect to final proofs taken before you, no investigation by a 
special agent will be required unless requested by you or directed by this 
office or where the special agent has reason to believe such an investigation 
is necessary. Should an investigation be deemed necessary, upon notice 
thereof you will suspend action on the case and forward the proof to this 
office in the usual manner. 

5. In the atosence of any investigation of any case in which final proof 
is made before you, and if the proof is complete, yon will allow final receipt 
and certificate to issue and forward the record to this office in the regular 
manner. 

6. With respect to final proofs taken before other officers you will, 
upon issuing notices of intention to make such proofs, furnish a copy thereof 
to the special agent in your district, if there be one. Upon receipt thereof 
the special agent will take such action as will serve the best interest of the 
government. 

7. In any case where the special agent is satisfied without personal 
examination that the claim is in good faith he will so advise you, Wihen you 
will consider the proof in the usual manner. If, on the other hand, he has 
reason tO' believe that the claim for which final proof is offered was not made 
in good faith or that for any other reason the law has not been complied 
with, and that investigation should be made, he will advise your office, in 
which event you will suspend the proof upon its receipt and forward the 
same to this office. 

8. In all cases of final proof made before other officers, you and the 
special agent in your district, if there be one, must agree as to the bona fides 
of such proof. If you are agreed that the claim is in good faith and that the 
law has been complied with, you will allow the claim to pass to entry. If 



120 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

you find to the contrary, you will suspend the proof and proceed as above 
indicated. In the case of disagreement between you and the special agent, 
or either of you, you will forward the entire record and await instructions. 

9. With respect to the officers other than yourselves before whom final 
proofs may be taken under the law, you will report to this office any other 
such officers whom you have Teason to believe fail to comply with the law in 
the matter of final proofs* or are charged with any misconduct in connection 
with such proofs or complicity in an effort to defraud the government. Upon 
receipt of such reports such action will be taken as will result in removing 
the cause of complaint. 

10. You will advise applicants desiring to make final proofs before other 
officers that such a course may cause delay in the completion of their claims', 
inasmuch as they may require examination by a special agent. 

11. Wlith respect to final proofs in timber and istone cases, the cross-ex- 
amination required in accordance with the rules' in such cases must be 
reduced to writing by the officers before whom final proof is taken, and sub- 
mitted as a part of the final proof. In all cases, however, the cross-examina- 
tion, whether written or oral, must fully and completely test the bona fides 
of applicants. With respect thereto you will proceed on the lines heretofore 
followed, as there must be no departure from the policy of the office in 
requiring it to be satisfactorily shown that the law has been complied with. 

HOMESTEAD FEES AND COMMISSIONS. 

Acres $2.50 Land $1.25 Land 

Payable when Application is made... 40 $ 8.00 $ 6.50 

Payable when Application is made..... 80 11.00 8.00 

Payable when Application is made..... 120 19.00 14.50 

Payable when Application is made 160 22.00 16.00 

Payable when Final Proof is made 40 3.00 1.50 

Payable when Final Proof is made 80 6.00 3.00 

Payable when Final Proof is made..... 120 9.00 4.50 

Payable when Final Proof is made..... 160 12.00 6.00 

THE DESERT LANDS. 

The term "desert land" is applied to such areas ais will not produce crops 
without an artificial supply of water, and the law governing entries upon 
it are applicable only to land within the boundaries' of Montana, California, 
Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Arizona and New Mexico. 

It was designed to expedite the reclamation of arid land districts in 
these states and to provide homes for actual isettlers. To obtain title to 
such land under the Desert Land Act, the person making entry at the G-ov- 
ernment land office is required to make affidavit that it will not, without 
artificial irrigation, produce an agricultural crop of any kind in paying 
quantity and that it cannot be cultivated unless it is supplied with the neces'- 
sary water. This affidavit must be supported by two witnesses whose testi- 
mony is also given under oath. Privilege to make such entry is conferred 
upon any citizen of the United States or persons who have declared their 
intentions to become such, and who are residents of the state or territory in 
which the land sought to' be filed upon is located', and any such may file the 
declaration under oath with the Register and Receiver of the land office of 
the district in which any desert land is situated and he intends to reclaim a 
tract of desert land not exceeding 320 acres by conducting water upon the 
same inside of four years. 

At the time of filing this declaration, a fee of twenty-five cents for each 
acre of land proposed to be so reclaimed must be paid and a description of 
the land, whether surveyed or not — in the latter case describing the tract 
as nearly as possible — must also be filed. 

The applicant must also file a map of the land which shall exhibit a plan 
showing the mode of contemplated irrigation, and which plan shall be suffi- 
cient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land and prepare it to raise 
ordinary agricultural crops and shall show the source of the water to be 
used for such purpose. 



LAND AND MINING LAWS 121 

At any time within four years, upon making satisfactory proof to the 
Register and Receiver of the actual reclamation of such land, and the expen- 
diture thereon of one dollar an acre each year for three years, and proof of 
the cultivation of one-eighth of the land, and upon the payment of the addi- 
tional sum of one dollar an acre, a patent shall be issued. 

The claimant must also file with the Register during each of said three 
years proof by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses that he has' 
made such expenditures. He may, however, prove up earlier whenever he 
can make the required proof of reclamation, cultivation and expenditure to 
the aggregate of three dollars an acre for the whole tract. All lands, exclu- 
sive of timber and mineral lands, which will not, without irrigation, produce 
some agricultural crop, are classified as desert lands. The law does not 
require residence on a desert land entry. 

In making final proof the entryman must swear that water has been 
brought upon each legal subdivision and that crops have been successfully 
raisied thereon, such statements being corroborated by the oaths of two wit- 
nesses. 

It is also held that the alleged reclamation of arid land must consist of 
something more than an increased growth of grass upon the tract to which 
title is desired. 

The Secretary of the Interior has decided that the entryman must have 
an absolute right to sufficient water to irrigate the land; that the system of 
ditches to conduct the water to and distribute it over the land must be ade- 
quate for this purpose, and that the land must be actually irrigated for a 
sufficient period to demonstrate the adequacy of the water supply and the 
effectiveness of the system. These are essential facts- which must in all 
cases be clearly established by the proofs and actual tillage must, as a rule, 
be shown. If, however, it be shown, and it mus/t be made to conclusively so 
appear, that because of climatic conditions, crops other than grass cannot be 
successfully produced, or that actual tillage of the soil will destroy or injure 
its productive qualities, the actual production of a crop of hay of merchant- 
able value as the result of actual irrigation, may be accepted as' sufficient 
compliance with the requirements of cultivation. 

Proofs which show that because of irrigation there is on the land a 
marked increase in the growth of grass, or that grass sufficient to support 
stock has been produced on all the land, will not be accepted as- showing 
compliance with that provision of the mandatory act of 1891, "that proof 
shall be further required of the cultivation of one-eighth of the land. 

A married woman can make a desert land entry, if it is for her own use, 
and made with her own money, and entries under this act can be assigned 
to any qualified person who has never made or held an entry, and the 
assignee can make final proof upon compliance with the law. 

Lands bordering upon streams, lakes, or other natural bodies of water, 
or through or upon which there is any river, stream, arroyo, lake, pond, body 
of water, or living spring, are not subject to entry under the Desert Land 
law until the clearest proof of their desert character is furnished. 

Lands which produce native grasses sufficient in quantity, if unfed by 
grazing animals, to make a crop of hay in usual seasons, are not desert 
lands. Lands which will produce an agricultural crop of any kind in amount 
to make the cultivation reasonably remunerative, are not desert, and lands 
containing sufficient moisture to produce a natural growth of trees are not 
to be classed as desert lands. Claims under this act m^y be assigned to 
another person before final proof, but the assignee must file in the local land 
office an affidavit and a certified copy of the instrument under which they 
claim and must make affidavit of the amount of land held, but an entry made 
in the interest or for the benefit of any other person, firm or corporation, or 
with the intent that the title shall be conveyed to any other person, firm or 
corporation, is illegal. 

A personal knowledge of the land to be entered upon is required and the 
affidavit cannot be made by an agent, nor upon information and belief. All 
applications in which it does not appear that the entryman made the aver- 
ments contained in the sworn declaration upon his own knowledge derived 
from a personal examination of the lands will be rejected. 

Persons making desiert entries must acquire a clear title to the use of 



122 LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 

sufficient water for the purpose of irrigating the whole of the land and of 
keeping it permanently irrigated. A person who makes entry before he has 
secured a water right does so at his own risk; and as one entry exhausts his 
right of entry such right cannot be restored or again exercised because of 
failure to obtain water to irrigate the land selected by him. 

The whole tract and each legal subdivision, if surveyed, for which proof 
is offered, must be actually irrigated. If there be some high points or 
uneven surfaces which are practically not susceptible of irrigation, the 
nature, extent and area of such spots must be fully stated. Contests may be 
instituted against desert land entries for illegality or fraud in the inception 
of the entry or for any sufficient cause affecting the legality or validity of 
the claim. 

320 acres is the maximum amount of land that can be obtained under 
the Desert Land Act. 

TIMBER AND STONE LANDS. 

The quantity of land which may be lawfully acquired under the Timber 
and Stone Act of Congress, by any one person or association is limited to 
160 acres, which must be in one body. The land must be valuable chiefly 
for its timber or stone, and unfit for cultivation if the timber were removed 
It must be unreserved, unappropriated and uninhabited, and without improve- 
ments (except for ditch or canal purposes) save such as were made by or 
belong to the applicant. 

Lands containing valuable deposits of gold, silver, copper, coal or cin- 
nabar are not subject to entry under this act. One entry or filing only is 
allowed any person or association of persons. 

A married woman may be permitted to purchase under the act, but in 
addition to other proofs required she must make affidavit at the time of 
entry that she proposes to make such purchase with her separate money in 
which her husband has no interest or claim; that said entry is made for her 
sole and separate use and benefit; that she has made no contract or agree- 
ment whereby any interest whatever therein will inure to the benefit of her 
husband or any other person, and that she has never made an entry under 
said act or derived or had any interest whatever, directly or indirectly, in or 
from a former entry made by any person or association of persons. 

A person applying to purchase a tract under the provisions of this act 
is required to make an affidavit before the Register or Receiver of the land 
office that he has made no prior application under this' act; that he is by 
birth or naturalization a citizen of the United States, or has declared his 
intention to become such. If native born, parol evidence to that fact will be 
sufficient ; if not native born, record evidence of the prescribed qualification 
must be furnished. 

The affidavit must designate by legal subdivisions the tract which the 
applicant desires to purchase, setting forth its character as above, stating 
that the same is unfit for cultivation and valuable chiefly for its timber or 
stone; that it is uninhabited; contains no mining or other improvements, 
except for ditch or canal purposes (if any exist), save such as were made by 
or belong to the aiDplicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any valuable 
deposits of gold, silver, copper, coal or cinnabar; that deponent does not 
apply to purchase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate 
it to his own exclusive use and benefit; and that he has not, directly or indi- 
rectly, made any agreement or contract in any way or manner with any pe^-- 
son whomsoever, by which the title he may acquire from the Government 
of the United States shall inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any ner- 
son excent himself. Everv person swearing falselv to any such affidavit is 
ffuilty of periury and will be punished as provided bv law for such offense. 
In addition thereto the money that may be paid for the land is forfeited and 
all convevances of the land or of anv right, title, or claim thereto, are abso- 
lutely null and void as against the United Stetes. 

The sworn statement reouired before the Register and Receiver must 
be made upon the personal knowledge of the applicant excent in the narticu- 
lars regarding minerals, in which the statute provides that the affidavit 
may be made upon information and belief, and must in every case be read 
to the applicant before he is sworn or attaches his signature. 



LAND AND MINING LAWS 



12: 



A notice of the application will be published for sixty days and must 
contain the time and place when, and name of the officer before whom the 
party intends to offer proof, and the names of the witnesses who are to 
testify. 

The evidence must be taken before the Register or Receiver and will 
consist of the testimony of the claimant by the testimony of two disinterested 
witnesses. The entire proof must be taken at one and the same time, and 
payment must be made at the time of offering proof. Proofs will in no case 
be accepted in the absence of a tender of the money. 

In case of an association of persons making application for an entry 
under this act each of the persons must prove the requisite qualifications, 
and their names must appear in the sworn statement as in case of an indi- 
vidual person. They must also unite in the application for entry, which 
will be made in their joint names as in other cases of joint cash entry, and 
the sworn statement as to the character of the land may be made by one 
member of the association upon his personal knowledge. No person who 
has made an individual entry or application can thereafter make one as a 
member of an association, nor can any member of an assocition making an 
entry or application be allowed thereafter to make an individual entry or 
application. 

Applicants for timber land entries, and claimants and witnesses for final 
proof, must in all cases state their places of actual residence, their business 
or occupation, and their postoffice addresses. It is not sufficient to name 
the county and state or territory where a party lives, but the town or city 
must be named ,and if residence is in a city, the street and numher must 
be given. 

The price of timber and stone lands is $2.50 per acre. 

The fee for filing a timber and stone entry is $10.00. 

Lands Ooen for Settlement in the 'Various Land Districts in IVIontana. 



I^OCATION OF OFFICE 



Area Unappropriated 



Area Surveyed 



Area Unsurveyed 



Area Appro- 
priated 



Bozeman... 
Great Falls 

Helena 

Kalispell 

Lewistown 
Miles City... 
Missoula 



1,947,050 
7.163,903 
2,339,453 

192,836 
3,024,927 
3,142,676 

433,481 



1,801,810 
7,475,527 
5,416,396 
3,576,907 
2,803,396 
14,444,786 
4,122,515 



3,469,860 
3,384,916 
3,383,202 
2,000,757 
2,207,399 
2,369,698 
1,507,971 



STATE LANDS. 



The interests which are confided to this department of the State Govern- 
ment are of vast and growing importance and affect the welfare of the people 
who will come in future years as well as those now here. Prom a compara- 
tively small beginning, thf^ business has grown to enormous proportions 
which bids fair to continue for years to come. The area of Montana com- 
prises about 93,000,000 acres, which may be generally classified as Northern 
Pacific Land Grant, Indian and Military Reservations, Forest Reserves, 
State and School Lands, Governm.ent land, private land and mining claims. 
The State lands comprise 1,280 acres in each township granted by Congress 
for the maintenance of the public schools which, with indemnity selections 
made in lieu of school lands settled upon prior to survey, or such as has been 
decided to be mineral land, or is within reservations established by the 
Federal Government, all of which is designated as School land, makes a total 
of 2,527,034 acres. The grand total of State land directly under control of 
the State Board of Land Commissioners is 3,181,036 acres. In addition to 
the lands granted to maintain the public schools. Congress has at various 
times made grants to aid State buildings and eleemosynary institutions, 
amounting in all to 668,080 acres, distributed among the institutions as 
follows : 



124 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

Capitol Building 182,000 

Agricultural College 140,000 

School of Mines 100,000 

Normal School 100,000 

Reform School 50,000 

School for the Deaf and Blind 50,000 

State University 46,080 

In character these lands are classified as agricultural, 85,000 acres; 
timber, 255,613 acres; and grazing, 327,467 acres. 

The saw timber upon these grants alone is estimated at 1,058,260,000 
feet. 

Agricultural land as classified here, means only such land as is actually 
under cultivation, and it may ue stated that the reclamation of State land by 
cultivation and irrigation is rapidly spreading, much of the state's selections 
lending itself, readily to farming. This is particularly true of bottom land 
along the streams and rivers,, where the individual farmer may construct 
irrigation systems without much trouble or expense. As the years go by, 
all of the State's holdings will come nearer and nearer being worth the price 
fixed by law as the minimum at which they may be sold — $10 an acre. 

Among the most valuable holdings at present are 190,997 acres in Flat- 
head County, of which 15,000 acres are agricultural land needing very little, 
if any, irrigation, and located in a region noted for its fertile soil and 
delightful climate. Several thousand acres in the State University grant are 
situated here, and have an enviable reputation for banner crops of fruits, 
grain and vegetables. This has taken place under the system of leasing 
State lands to private individuals for a yearly rental, which usually results 
in a sale of the lands at an approximately higher figure than they would 
otherwise bring. In the Gallatin Valley about 8,000 acres are in splendid 
farms which have added their quota to the famous grain products of that 
section, while 3,000 acres in the Bitter Root Valley are part and parcel of 
this great fruit growing locality. Upon the State lands in these two coun- 
ties irrigation works have been established by the leasers. In other por- 
tions of the State the leased land is irrigated for hay and other crops, gener- 
ally by cattle and stock growers. In the selection of State lands, particular 
attention was paid to securing vast tracts of tim'ber, which have proven to 
be a great source of revenue. These holdings lie principally in Flathead, 
Missoula and Ravalli counties, on the West slope of the Rocky Mountains. 
There are now in Flathead County 175,000 acres of such land, covered with 
yellow pine, tamarack, fir and spruce, which when cleared will develop into 
the finest kind of agricultural land. 

The next largest holdings of this kind are in Missoula County, 65,000 
acres, with Ravalli and Powell following. 

In all these places there are large lumber interests, the policy of the 
Board being to sell the timber to the highest bidder, after properly adver- 
tising the same. A State scaler is employed who measures the timber imme- 
diately after it has been cut, and before it is removed from the ground. 
Very little timber has been sold at less than $2.00 a thousand feet, and in 
some cases it has been sold for more than double this sum. Timber is also 
sometimes sold upon an estimate, but the general custom has been to base 
the payment upon the report of the scaler. 

The far greater portion of the State land is classified as grazing, and 
comprises about 2,500,000 acres. It is scattered about in nearly every county 
in the State, in large and small parcels. Some of the largest of these are in 
Madison and Beaverhead counties, where it is possible to greatly enhance 
their value by a system of irrigation either under Government or State con- 
trol. 

Cascade County also has a considerable amount of this land situated in 
a section which is rapidly becoming known as suitable for dry farming. 
Much of this grazing land should really be classed as agricultural, for the 
reason that it produces each year large crops of hav and forage. 

The minimum price established by the State Constitution for this land 
is $10.00 per acre. Should, however, any land be appraised for more than 
$10.00 per acre it cannot be sold for less. Every five years, or whenever it 
is deemed expedient by the State Board of Land Commissioners, the unleased 



LAND AND MINING LAWS 125 

lands in each county are advertised for sale or lease. These offerings are 
conducted by the Register of the State Land Office, each tract being ofterea 
separately for sale or lease to the highest bidder. The terms provided by 
law are either all cash payment or 30 per cent cash, the balance to be paid in 
seven equal annual payments with interest on deferred payments at the rate 
of 7 per cent per annum,, except timber lands which are sold for cash. Not 
more than 160 acres of land are sold to one person, except in grazing lands 
more than 160 acres may be sold if, in the judgment of the State Land Regis- 
ter, a sale of a single 160 acres would work an injury to the balance of the 
section. 

LEASING OF STATE LANDS. 

Elach tract of State land for which no bid for its purchase has been 
received at public auction is immediately offered for lease at the rate of six 
and one-quarter per cent of its appraised value per acre, such lease to run for 
five years, each year's rental to be paid in advance as it becomes due. Each 
lessee is required to give bonds in the name of two resident and solvent 
sureties for the amount of the deferred rentals. The lessee is fully protected 
in all his improvements upon the land and should he desire to clear it of 
brush, secure a water right or construct an irrigating ditch, by making appli- 
cation to the State permission is invariably granted and the records made to 
certify such improvements to his credit. The Register is thereby restrained 
from issuing a certificate of purchase or new lease to another applicant at 
the termination of the original lease until the old lessee is paid the appraised 
value of the improvements or has elected to^ remove them. 

All lessees having improvements upon State lands and not wishing to 
re-lease the same have the privilege of disposing of or removing such 
improvements as are capable of removal without damage to the land at any 
time within ninety days from the expiration of their lease. Should, however, 
the old lessee desire to re-lease the land he is given preference over any new 
applicant. 

It is further provided in the statutes that if, after a public offering in 
any county, there still remain State lands unleased, the same may be sold 
at private sale by the Register subject to the approval of the State Board of 
Land Commissioners or placed under lease at the rate of 6i/4 per cent of its 
appraised valuation. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE MINING LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND 
REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO THE RESERVATION, EXPLORATION, 
LOCATION, POSSESSION, PURCHASE, AND PATENTING OF SAME. 

Title XXXII, Chapter 6, Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 2318. In all cases lands valuable for minerals shall be reserved 
from sale, except as otherwise expressly directed by law. 

Sec. 2319. All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the 
United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be 
free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are 
found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States and those 
who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations pre- 
scribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in 
the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not incon- 
sistent with the laws of the United States. 

Sec. 2320. Mining claim:s upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock 
in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable 
deposits, heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein 
or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of theii^ 
location. A mining claim located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-two, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, 
but shall not exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein 
or lode; but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery 
of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall 



126 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein 
at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation to 
less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the sur- 
face, except where adverse rights existing on the tenth day of May, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-two, render such limitation necessary. The end lines 
of each claim shall be parallel to each other. 

Sec. 2321. Proof of citizenship, under this chapter, may consist in the 
case of an individual, of his own affidavit thereof; in the case of an asso- 
ciation of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, 
made on his own knowledge or upon information and belief; and in the case 
of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any 
State or Territory thereof, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter 
or certificate of incorporation. 

Sec. 2322. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made or 
which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vem, lode, or ledge, situated 
on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists 
on the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, so long as they 
comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, Territorial, and 
local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United rStates govern- 
ing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and 
enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and 
of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex 
of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward vercically, 
although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular 
in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical lines of such 
surface locations. But their right of possession to such outside parts of 
such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between 
vertical planes drawn downward as above described, through the end lines 
of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will 
intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges. And nothing in this 
section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which 
extends in its downward course beyond the veirtical lines of his claim ' to 
enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. 

Sec. 2323. Where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, 
or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right 
of possession of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face 
of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered 
in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and 
locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the 
surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and 
while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be 
invalid, but failure to prosecute the w^ork on the tunnel for six months shall 
be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on 
the line of such tunnel. 

Sec. 2324. The miners of each mining-district may miake regulations 
not in conflict with the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the 
State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the location, 
manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a min- 
ing claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be 
distinctly marked on the ground so that its boundaries can be readily 
traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name 
or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of 
the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or perma- 
nent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the 
tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and until a patent has 
been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall 
be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims 
located prior to the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, 
ten dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made by the 
tenth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and each year there- 
after, for each one hundred feet in length along the vein until a patent has 
been issued therefor; but where such claims are held in common, such 
expenditure may be made upon any one claim; and upon failure to comply 



LAND AND MlNINO LAWS 127 

with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which sucli failure occurred 
shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same 
had ever been made, provided that the original locators, their 
heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work 
upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon the 
failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of 
the expenditures required hereby, the co-owners who have performed the 
labor or made the improvemonts may, at the expiration of the year, give 
such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing or notice by publication 
in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for 
ninety days, and if at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writ- 
ing or by publication such delinquent fail or refuse to contribute his propor- 
tion of the expenditure required by this section, his interest in the claim 
shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the requireid 
expenditures. 

Sec. 2325. A patent for any land claimed and located for valuable 
deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, associa- 
tion, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this chapter, having 
claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has, or have, 
complied with the terms of this chapter, may file in the proper land office 
an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together 
with a plat and field notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or 
under the directions of the United States surveyor-general, showing accur- 
ately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked 
by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together 
with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the 
land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a 
patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice 
has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such land office, 
and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for the land, in the following- 
manner: The register of the land office, upon the filing of such applica- 
tion, plat, field notes, notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such 
application has been made, for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to 
be by him designated as published nearest to such claim; and he shall also 
post such notice in his office for the same period. The claim at the time of 
filing this application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of 
publication, shall file with the register a certificate of the United States 
surveyor-general that five hundred dollars' worth of labor has been expended 
or improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors; that the plat 
is correct, with such further description by such reference to natural objects 
or permanent monuments as shall identify the claim, and furnish an 
accurate description, to be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration of 
the sixty days of publication the claimant shall file his affidavit, showing 
that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the 
claim during such period of publication. If no adverse claim shall have 
been filed with the register and the receiver of the proper land office at the 
expiration of the sixty days of publication, it shall be assumed that the appli- 
cant is entitled to a patent, upon the payment to the proper officer of five 
dollars per acre, and that no adverse claim exists; and thereafter no objec- 
tion from third parties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard, except it 
be shown that the applicant has failed to comply with the terms of this 
chapter. 

Sec. 2326. Where an adverse claim is filed during the period of publi- 
cation, it shall be upon oath of the person or persons making the same, and 
shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such adverse claim, and all 
proceedings, except the publication of notice and making and filing of the 
affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled 
or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived. 
It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing 
his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to 
determine the question of the right of possession, and prosecute the same 
with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a 
waiver of his adverse claim. After such judgment shall have been rendered, 
the party entitled to the possession of the claim, or any portion thereof, may. 



128 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 

without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgm,ent-roll with 
the register of the land office, together with the certificate of the surveyor- 
general that the requisite amount of labor has been expended or improve- 
ments made thereon, and the description required in other cases, and shall 
pay to the receiver five dollars per acre for his claim, together wiith the 
proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedinggs and the judgment-roll shall 
be certified by the register to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
and a patent shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion thereof as the 
applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly possess. If 
it appears, from the decision of the court that several parties are entitled to 
separate and different portions of the claim, each party may pay for his por- 
tion of the claim with the proper fees, and file the certificate and description 
by the surveyor-general, whereupon the register shall certify the proceed- 
ings and judgment-roll to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, as 
in the preceding case, and patents shall issue to the several parties accord- 
ing to their respective rights. Nothing herein contained shall be construed 
to prevent the alienation of a title conveyed by a patent for a mining claim 
to any person whatever. 

Sec. 2329. Claims usually called "placers," including all forms of deposit, 
excepting- veins of quartz, or other rock in place, shall be subject to 
entry and patent, under like circumstances and conditions and upon similar 
proceedings, as are provided for vein or lode claims; but where the lands 
have been previously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior 
limits shall conform to the legal subdivisions of the public lands. 

Sec. 2330. Legal subdivisions of forty acres may be subdivided into ten- 
acre tracts; and two or more persons, or associations of persons, having con- 
tiguous claims of any size, although such claims may be less than ten acres 
each, may make joint entry thereof; but no location of a placer claim, made 
after the ninth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy, shall exceed one 
hundred and sixty acres for any one person or association of persons, which 
location shall conform to the United States surveys; and nothing in this 
section contained shall defeat or impair any bona fide preemption or home- 
stead claim upon agricultural lands, or authorize the sale of the improve- 
ments of any bona fide settler to any purchaser. 

Sec. 2331. Where placer-claims are upon surveyed lands, and conform to 
legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat shall be required, and all placer 
mining claims located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two, shall conform as near as practicable with the United States 
system of public land surveys, and the rectangular subdivisions of such sur- 
veys, and no location shall include more than twenty acres for each indi- 
vidual claimant; but where placer claims can not be conformed to legal sub- 
divisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands; and where 
by the segregation of mineral lands in any legal subdivision a quantity of 
agricultural land less than forty acres remains, such fractional portion of 
agricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for home- 
stead or preemption purposes. 

Sec. 2332. Where such person or association, they and their grantors, 
have held and worked their claims for a period equal to the time prescribed 
by the statute of limitations for mining claims of the State or Territory 
where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and working 
of the claims for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to patent 
thereto under this chapter, in the absence of any adverse claim; but nothing 
in this chapter shall be deemed to impair any lien which may have attached 
in any way whatever to any mining claim or property thereto attached prior 
to the issuance of a patent. 



ADVERTISE MEiNT S 



129 






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130 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



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John Deere Plows 

McCormick Harvesting Machinery, Etc. 



Largest 

Department 

Store 

In the 
Northwest 



ISSOULA 

ERCANTILE 



We Sell 

Everything 

'and 

Everything the 

t Very Best 



MISSOULA, MONTANA 



ADVEiRTISEMENTS 



131 











2Ibi0 btiok iH ii\e prohutt af ll|r 
iatlg miBBauliatt \ab ftlant tol|trl| 
i0 mnbrrn \n phprg parttrular 










alhp IStttln lltfRariltftntt P'^'i^ted every morning in the year, 
eilJF 13aXl5 2IWXBfi0Unan ^anks first among the Republican 

dailies of Montana. It publishes the full Associated Press reports and 
its local news service, covering Western Montana, makes it a valu- 
able and reliable source of information for any one interested or con- 
templating being interested in the opening of the Flathead Indian 
Reservation. Subscription rates for the Daily Missoulian are |4.00 for 
6 months; the Weekly Missoulian, $1.50 for one year. 




iKtaafluItan f ufaltslitng (Ha. 

MiBBouln, Montana. 





iitaaoula (Ernst 
unh ^erurttg Sank 



ilitBBnula. mantana 



GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS 



iftttprFBt ^atb on ^altittga 
anft Simp ^epaeits 



ArtB VLB ©ruBt^F iExrrutor 
Entta ^afrtg IppoBtt Moxts 



CAPITAL STOCK, $100,000.00 




132 



LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



jUtBfiflula Hurfiprg (Ha. 



Established 1892 



MISSOULA, MONTANA 




GROWERS OF AI.I, HARDY VARIETIES OF 

Trees, Shrubs, Plants and Vines 



Our Greenhouses are complete in Flowers and 
Plants of every description. We are headquarters in 
handling stock by the train loads. A visit to our 
grounds, located one and one-half miles southwest of 
Missoula, will convince all comers. 

Send in your plans and orders for estimates. 



CATALOGUE FREE 



Long Distance Thone 45 



C. F. DALLMAN, Supt. 



ADVERTISEMENTS 133 



®1|? ($uvim Qlttg 

W holt' stale Dealers in 

LIQUORS AND CIGARS 

Missoula, Montana 



OPTIMO, Clear Havana Cigars 

Rose Goughliu, Dry Climate. Inion Record and Ednnnid 
Burke Citjars 



PILGRIMAGE BOLRBOX 
H a lit III it Springs and F. T. W. Rye WJiiskies. 



W. H. Smead Company 

Missoula, Montana 

Iiiforinatioii pertaiuiug to the opening of the Flat- 
head Keservation a specialty. 

W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 

Missoula, Montana 



134 LAND OF THE FLATHEADS 



Saint Ignatius 

Located in tlie Heart of tlie 
Fertile Mission Valley 

THIS is the point from which the immense area of 
the Flathead Reservation known as the Mission 
Valley is most accessible by parties desiring to 
look over the field in advance of the opening. Located 
but six miles from Ravalli station on the N. P. Ry., 
with telegraph and telephone connections. 

Good Hotel 

Rigs and Saddle Horses 

Outfitting Store 

The Hotel is new, clean and commodious 

Experienced drivers thoroughly conversant with 
the country can be procured at all times. 

The store is well stocked with general merchandise, 
a specialty being made of camp outfits and supplies of 
all kinds. 



Write or wire for conveyances to meet you at the 
station stating day and train upon which you will arrive. 

Address 

Geo. H. Beckwith 

Licensed Indian Trader 

Saint Ignatius, (Fiathead Reservation) Montana 



ADVERTISEMENTS 



135 



First National Bank 

Capital and Surplus . $250,000.00 




dintereat at 3 prr rrttt per attnum path tit aur ^ahtitOH Sppartmpttt 



DIRECTORS 

A. B HAMMOND, President. T I,. GREENOUGH, Vice-President. J. M KEITH, Cashier 

F. P. KEITH, Assi.stant Cashier. R. A. EDDY. C. H. MCI.EOD. 

O. G ENGI.AND. 



136 



LAND OF THE FLATH'BADS 



Edgar S. Dorman 

nnh If Q&raultr lEngttt^er 
Higgins Block, Third Floor, Missoula, Montana 











FLORENCE HOTEL 

H. E. CHANEY Prop. 

$3.00 upicard 

Onljj Eir.^t Class Hotel in 
the city. 






MISSOULA HOTEL 

H. E. CHANEY, Prop. 
'$1.'}0 Kpirard 











C. E. WOODWORTH, civil engineer 

18 years with tlie Northern Pacific Railway Land Department. 

7 years as Chief Land Examiner. 

G years as Chief Timber Inspector. 

5 years as Mineral Land Commissioner. 

Examinations and estimates made and reliable reports furnished 
on all classes of lands — agricultural, timber and mineral — in Montana 
and Idaho. Maps and plats furnished. 

01. iE. Mnnbmortlj, 01. IE. 

MISSOULA, MONTANA. 



ADVERTISEMENTS 137 



W. A. Mentrum George Briggs 



Missoula, Montana 

WHOLESALE 



Wine and Liquor Merchants 

SOLE AGEiNTS FOR 

Attlf^ua^r-luartj Ir^taiiitg AaBnriatton 

ST. LOUIS, MO. 
ALL THE POPULAR BRANEI3 OF 

BOURBON AND RYE WHISKIES Sold in Bond 

DISTRIBUTERS FOR 

^amu^l 31. iabia ^ (En. 

Kly SIDEIyO, CHART^KS CARROIyl, AND GEN. WOOD HAVANA CIGARS 



BUFFALO FOR SALE 

On account of the opening of the Flathead 
Reservation, (Si^t Nortl|^rn Slto ^tnrk 
OInmpattg are offering their herd of buifalo, 
which range there, for sale. This herd is 
a part of the largest and finest herd in the 
world. Write for particulars and prices. 

W. H. SMEAD, Sales Agent 

MISSOULA, MONTANA 



138 


LAND OF THE FLATHBADS 






This Book 






"Land of the 






Flatheads" 






Hb 






MAJOR W. H. SMEAD 






For nearly seven years United States Indian Agent 
of the Flathead Reservation 






May be obtained of W. H. Smead Company 






Missoula, Montana 






Prtr^: 






Including Map of the Flathead Reservation 
and Map of Montana 






$1.00 






Postpaid to any address in the United 
States or Canada 






Address: 






W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 






Missoula, Montana 











ADVERTISEMENTS 139 



W.H. Smead Company 

(Incorporated) 

Capital, $50,000.00 - MISSOULA, MONTANA 



LOANS AND INVESTMENTS 

Have you idle money? Are you getting a 
good rate of interest? Why not secure eight 
and ten per cent interest on absolutely safe 
mortgage secur i ties ? 

We make a specialty of making loans for 
non-residents. 

We loan only 50 per cent of actual value of 
property and require borrower to insure his 
property in favor of loaner. We require ab- 
stracts of all property on which Ave make loans 
and have same passed upon by a reputable at- 
torney. 

We make no charge for loaning your money, 
the borrower pays our commission and attor- 
ney fees. 

We refer by j)erniission, as to our responsi- 
bility and integrity, to the following Missoula 
business houses and banks. 

Missoula Mercantile Company. Capital, $850,000. 
First National Bank. Capital and surplus, $250,000. 
Missoula Trust and Security Company. Capital, $100,000. 

Address : 

W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 

Missoula, Montana 



140 



LAND OF THE FLATHEABS 



FLATHEAD STEAMER AND STAGE LINE 

BETWEEN RAVALLI, N. P. RY. AND KALISPELL 




Northbound — Leaves Kavalli 6 a. m. Mondays, Wednes- 
days and Fridays, reaching Lalve at noon, then via Steamer, 
reaching Kalispell same evening. 
Ivavalli evening before starting davs. 



Passengers shonld reach 



HofitJihoiiiid — Leaves Kalispell 5 a. m. Mondays, Wednes- 
days and Fridays, arriving at Ilavalli same evening. 

Fare, $1.00. Trunks Extra. 

HODGE & WEIGHTMAN, Props. 

Leave Orders at Weightman's Barn, Kalispell KALISPELL, MONTANA 



John Weightman mSm First-class Livery 



HOTEL WEIGHTMAN 

EAVALLI, MONTANA 

Newlj^ furnished and fitted. Strictly first-class hotel ac- 
commodations at reasonable prices. 

Stage leaves here for the Lake and Kalispell, 



ADVEIRTISBMBNTS 141 



(Incorporated) 
CAPITAL, $50,000.00 - MISSOULA, MO'NTANA 

Reservation Lands 

Do you want a home on tlie beautiful and fertile Flathead 
Reservation? If so you will want to keep posted about the 
opening. The time is uncertain. We will act as your attor- 
ney and agent. We will write you every month and more fre- 
quently, should same be necessary, giving you full informa- 
tion about the progress of surveys, allotments, and probable 
time when same will be thrown open. 

Immediately following the proclamation of the President, 
giving date, manner of opening, etc., we will notify you, giv- 
ing all particulars, when and where to come to register, etc. 

Major W. H. Smead, President of the W. H. Smead Com- 
pany, was for nearly seven years, agent of the Flathead Reser- 
vation, and his opinions and advice to prospective settlers 
will be of great value. There are many matters that you 
will want to inquire about before coming to register at the 
opening. We will advise you about them. We will also furn- 
ish you any information relative to Western Montana that you 
may desire, and advise you relative to land laws. 

Send us your name and post-office address, plainly writ- 
ten, and $2.50, and we will place you on our roll and act as 
your attorney and agent until the time of opening. This will 
insure your being kept in touch with everything pertaining to 
the opening of the Reservation. It will save you time and 
money. 

Our final notice, after the President's proclamation has 
been issued, will be sent by registered mail, to make certain 
of your receiving same. 

By having your name upon our rolls, you can continue 
your usual vocation uninterrupted until the time actually nec- 
essary for you to come to Montana to register at the United 
States Land Office. 

We refer by permission, as to our responsibility and in- 
tegrity, to the following Missoula business houses and banks; 

Missoula Mercantile Company. Capital, $850,000. 
First National Bank. Capital and surplus, $250,000. 
Missoula Trust and Security Bank. Capital, $100,000. 

ADDREISS 

W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 

MISSOULA, MO'NTANA 



142 



LAND OF THE FLATHEiADS 




l^atti nnh Btavt, at piatna, ilnntatta 



3n tl|p NpIu (Eountg of S>anJiprs 



Four miles from the western line of the Flathead Reservation, 
ten miles from the celebrated Paradise Hot Springs, surrounded 
by unexceled fruit, timber and agricultural lands, and the finest 
climate in Montana. First class hotels merchandise and livery 
accommodations. A complete water system, weekly newspaper, 
three churches and good schools. Information cheerfully furnish- 
ed. Write First National Bank, Plains, Montana. 



Hotel National 



A. J. BURNES, Proprietor. 



KALISPELL, MONTANA. 



(Eommrrrial ^abquartrra 



CommoMiiua Sample Knama 



RATES $2.00, $2.50 and $3.00 



Strain il^rat 



IFirr Proof 



ADVERTISEiMEiNTS 143 



LAKE VIEW INN 

FOOT OF FLATHEAD LAKE, FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION, MONTANA 

New hotel, newly equipped and beautifully located on 
the beachj in full view of the majestic snow-capped Mission 
Range, and the falls of the Pend d'Oreille river. All steam- 
ers touch here. Regular line leaves Mondays, Wednesdays 
and Fridays, for Kalispell, on the Great Northern Railway 
line. Daily stage for Ravalli on the Northern Pacific Rail- 
way line. Rates $1.50 and up. Livery in connection. 

GRAY & BROWNE, Props., Poison, Montana 

F. L GRAY & CO. 

POLSON, MONTANA 

GENERAL MERCHANTS - 

Homeseekers' and Tourists' Supplies 

Prices guaranteed to be as low as the lowest. 



THE THIEL DETECTIVE SERVICE CO. 

Offices 

Chicago, New York, St. Louis, St. Paul, 

Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, 

Spokane, Montreal, City of Mexico, Winnipeg, Toronto. 

For thirty years we have been engaged in secret service work in all 
parts of the civilized world, and the success of our operations has afforded 
the highest satisfaction to our many patrons, among whom are some of 
the greatest corporations and the most prominent Capitalists, Mine Own- 
ers and Managers, Stoeltermen, Cattlemen, Business and Professional 
men in the country. Being conducted on strictly business principles and 
employing only agents of known integritjy and ability, among whom are 
men efficient in every trade, profession and language, the Service is en- 
abled to guarantee its patrons, that all business intrusted to it will be 
conducted with the greatest assurance of success. We respectfully solicit 
your patronage and correspondence. 

THE THIEL DETECTIVE SERVICE CO. 
WILSON S. SWAIN, Manager, Spokane, Wash, 

Rooms 412-414-410, Empire State Bldg. 
Phone, Main 1457. 



^ lit COPY RtCElVta 

MAY 22 1905 



144 LAND OF THE FLATHEADf 



W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 

(Incorporated) 
CAPITAL, $50,000.00 - MISSOULA, MONTANA 



Real Estate, Loans and 
Insurance 

A large list of property for sale in all parts of Montana. 
We have ranch properties ranging in price from $1000.00 to 
$250,000.00. We have listed a number of the finest cattle ana 
sheep ranches in the West. These are now paying as high 
as 20 per cent on capital invested. 

Land from $4 to $100 per Acre 

City property for sale in Missoula, Kalispell, Butte and 
Great Falls. 

We make a specialty of making investments for non-resi- 
dents, and can invest your money where a return of from 
12 to 20 per cent is assured. 

Correspondence Invited 

We refer by permission, as to our responsibility and in- 
tegrity, to the following Missoula business houses and banks. 
Missoula Mercantile Company. Capital, $250,000 
First National Bank. Capital and Surplus, $250,000 
Missoula Trust and Security Company. Capital, $100,000 

Address, 

W. H. SMEAD COMPANY 

Missoula, Montana. 



liilMD 





LB D '05 



